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Health staff to seek voluntary retailer commitments on kratom, signage and ID; board approves outreach approach
Summary
Public health staff presented a draft voluntary agreement asking stores to limit kratom marketing, place kratom behind counters or locked shelves and voluntarily ask for ID and not sell to minors; the board authorized staff to pursue retailer agreements and public recognition for participating stores.
Public health staff asked the Mason County Board of Health for approval to pursue voluntary agreements with local retailers to reduce youth exposure to kratom and other unregulated psychoactive products. The draft agreement asks stores to: 1) move kratom and similar products behind the counter or to locked displays, 2) reduce or remove sidewalk sandwich boards and window advertising for those products, and 3) voluntarily ask for identification and refuse sales to under-18 customers. "About half of our students have heard of kratom," staff said after recent listening sessions with high-school students; staff reported some students work in convenience stores and a few adults in stores described kratom as a substitute to reduce other drug use. The board agreed to allow staff to present the proposed document to store owners and to pursue a local recognition program for participating retailers — for example, a county web page or local press acknowledgement listing stores that signed the voluntary agreement. Ben (public health) said staff will approach store owners, aim to secure voluntary commitments, and provide participating stores with a recognition placard or listing. The board also noted federal and state reviews of kratom are ongoing and that a voluntary local approach is an interim step while regulators consider legal restrictions. No regulatory penalty is attached to the agreement; staff said enforcement would not be part of this voluntary program. The board voted to add the item to the agenda and supported the outreach plan.
