Gov. Mike DeWine is pausing his call for a ban on kratom after a conversation with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But DeWine's office said he still wants to see kratom banned—both the botanical herb and synthetic versions of it.
Though it hasn’t been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, kratom is legal, virtually unregulated and marketed as a painkiller and a treatment for opioid addiction, anxiety, depression and other disorders. It's sold in various forms in corner stores and gas stations across the state and country—often in places that also sell delta-8, which DeWine has called on lawmakers to regulate as well.
Last Tuesday DeWine had ordered the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to categorize kratom as an illegal drug.
“These modified kratom products, sold online and in stores, are essentially legal, over-the-counter opiates that anyone – including kids – can buy with just a few bucks,” DeWine said in a written statement. “There is no accepted medical use for kratom in Ohio, and it is an imminent public health risk. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy should act with urgency to schedule all kratom compounds and future alterations of them as Schedule I illegal drugs.”
An emergency meeting of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy was set for last Wednesday but was canceled. A spokesman for DeWine said the governor spoke with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has also announced he wants to crack down on kratom and regulate it as controlled substance.
DeWine's spokesman said the governor “still intends to request a Kratom ban, and the pause was in part to allow for conversation with the FDA per the Secretary.”