Coroner urges city ban on kratom sales after local overdose deaths; council prepares ordinance for next meeting

Mayor Castle opened a discussion of a proposed ordinance to ban the sale (not possession) of kratom within Idaho Falls, saying legal staff expanded the definition to include synthetic and semi-synthetic alkaloids to close loopholes. The city attorney told council the draft would prohibit in-person and online sales targeted at city residents.

County Coroner Sanchez told the council she began tracking kratom-related deaths after toxicology reports returned positive results in several young people. "In about a year and a half, we have had 6," Sanchez said, describing cases that included a 19-year-old whose toxicology showed only kratom and another 23-year-old whose autopsy found "acute drug toxicity of Kratom." Sanchez said the product has spread from tobacco and smoke shops into gas stations and convenience stores, and that synthetic concentrates raise additional risks.

Sheriff Holes told the council the state legislature considered bills this session but neither passed, leaving local regulation as an option. He warned the council about enforcement challenges: there is no widely available presumptive field test for kratom, and prosecutions could be complicated if courts require laboratory confirmation. "That test does not exist for kratom outside of a commercial market," the sheriff said, adding that prosecutors might have to rely on packaging or pay for private-lab confirmation.

Council members asked whether naloxone would help in suspected kratom overdoses; Sanchez said Narcan is not reliably effective for kratom. Members also discussed jurisdictional consistency, noting that a city ban could shift legal sales into neighboring cities or the county unless surrounding governments act in concert. Several members supported an effective-date window that would give businesses time to remove stock and allow public outreach; council discussed July 1 as a likely date.

Mayor Castle said, unless council objects, the ordinance will be posted on the agenda for Thursday for formal consideration and continued public outreach. Staff noted the Food and Drug Administration had issued a national safety warning (staff cited a June press release) and that the county coroner's reports prompted the local initiative.

Next steps: the ordinance will be posted to the Thursday agenda and staff will run a period of public outreach and notifications to affected businesses before the proposed effective date is finalized.