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Cheney council narrows kratom ban to synthetic products and adopts ordinance
Summary
After extensive public comment, the council amended Ordinance Z‑03 to prohibit sale of synthetic kratom products and adopted the ordinance on a recorded vote; staff will return with licensing‑revocation language in a separate code update.
Cheney City Council voted to adopt Ordinance Z‑03 as amended to prohibit the sale and distribution of synthetic kratom products.
The change came after multiple online and in‑person public commenters urged the council to distinguish natural whole‑leaf kratom from concentrated synthetic derivatives. Misty Brown, an online commenter who described herself as a kratom consumer advocate, told the council: “I began my journey with whole leaf kratom…The kratom quieted the relentless cravings…For the first time in over a decade, I felt peace.” Several other commenters urged regulation rather than a wholesale ban and recommended lab testing and age gating for natural products.
Council discussion focused on enforceability and the city attorney’s advice about licensing tools. The mayor read staff recommendations that the city not include business‑license revocation language in the ordinance text because the current city code lacks a revocation mechanism; staff advised handling revocation through separate licensing code amendments. Council member Hahn said she had visited local convenience stores and found kratom products highly visible and sometimes marketed toward youth, and stated she would “vote for this ordinance as is” based on the information she collected.
Council amended the draft ordinance during the meeting to insert the word “synthetic” before each reference to kratom, then moved the ordinance for third reading in title and summary form and adopted it by roll call vote. The clerk called each member’s name and they responded “Aye”; the mayor declared Ordinance Z‑03 passed.
The council and administration said they would return with proposed licensing‑revocation language and related code edits (staff indicated a target of discussing that language at the public safety committee’s next meeting). The ordinance text approved at the meeting establishes a new chapter (5.35) to prohibit sale and distribution of synthetic kratom in Cheney.
