Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Kratom topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nurse practitioner thanks Marion council for kratom ban and urges more treatment options
Summary
Robert Swayze, a Marion-based family practice nurse practitioner, thanked the council for a recent ban on kratom sales, described losing a patient he said was using kratom, and urged the council and state officials to expand access to inpatient behavioral health treatment due to long local waiting lists.
Robert Swayze, a family practice nurse practitioner who works in Marion and a village trustee in Pittsburgh, used his time during public comment to thank the Marion City Council for a recent ordinance banning kratom sales and to urge more local treatment capacity.
"I have lost a patient due to suicide," Swayze said, adding that he has three current patients he is trying to help come off the substance and that specialty clinicians he has consulted recommended inpatient therapy. He said inpatient beds are scarce locally and waiting lists at regional facilities can run six to 12 months.
Swayze described withdrawal symptoms he has observed as severe, likening them to opioid or alcohol withdrawal with tremors, nausea and hallucinations. He said some local convenience stores still sell products that contain kratom and that labeling can obscure the presence of the substance.
City leaders thanked Swayze for his remarks. Mayor Absher invited further contact and the council noted the ordinance passed at its prior meeting that restricts local sales.
Why it matters: Swayze framed the issue as both a public-health and access problem — he praised the council's action to restrict sales but emphasized that regulation should be paired with treatment options for residents who are dependent. He said he has prepared position statements he hopes will prompt state-level regulation.
What happens next: Swayze told the council he will continue outreach to state-level stakeholders and encouraged the city and county to track treatment-availability needs; no formal action was taken during the meeting beyond the public comment acknowledgement.
