Detroit City Council sends kratom ban resolution back to committee, seeks more info before supporting statewide prohibition

Detroit City Council voted Tuesday to send a resolution supporting Michigan House Bill 5537 back to its Public Health and Safety Standing Committee, where members said they will seek more information about a statewide kratom ban and a competing regulation proposal before deciding whether to support the legislation.

The resolution, authored by Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway, would have committed the council to supporting House Bill 5537, a Republican-backed measure that would ban the production, sale and distribution of kratom and its variants in Michigan.

During the public comment period, speakers urged the council not to back a blanket ban on kratom, an herbal substance derived from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree in Southeast Asia. Many commenters described using natural leaf kratom to manage chronic pain or to withdraw from other substances after conventional treatments failed.

Daniel Kelly, a Metro Detroit resident who said he broke his spine in 2018, told the council that acupuncture, physical therapy, nerve blocks and pain clinics did not provide relief. He said natural leaf kratom allowed him to walk on his worst days and eventually pick up his daughter for the first time after three years of severe pain.

“that plant gave me my family back,” Kelly said.

Other speakers warned that a ban would punish people who use kratom for pain control or addiction recovery. One unidentified caller during the public comment period asked the council to consider the consequences of criminalization.

“Imagine what it’s like being terrified to be thrown in prison only because you wanted to control pain long enough so that you could live, work, and sleep and raise your children,” the caller said.

Advocates distinguished natural leaf kratom from synthetic variants such as 7-OH, which have drawn increasing scrutiny from federal health authorities. They also voiced support for regulatory measures like age limits and product testing rather than prohibition.

Council members pointed to Michigan Senate Bill 1181 as a competing approach. The bill, introduced late last month by State Senator John Cherry, would regulate the distribution, sale and manufacturing of kratom products instead of banning them.

The council voted to return the resolution to the Public Health and Safety Standing Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in two weeks after a break for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Members said they wanted to wait until they had learned more about Senate Bill 1181 and the distinctions between natural and synthetic kratom.

Whitfield-Calloway acknowledged that she was still gathering information about the substance and the legislation she had introduced.

“I want to note for the record that this is a multi-billion dollar business, and folks are committing suicide. Whether it’s the natural, I don’t know,” Whitfield-Calloway said. “I don’t know that much about it, but just listening today and reading what I’ve read in the last month or so, I’m being more informed and educated.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that kratom’s effects vary by dose and individual. In small amounts, consumers report stimulant-like effects, while larger doses produce opioid-like effects that some people use for relaxation, pain relief or assistance during drug withdrawal.

At least one commenter at Tuesday’s meeting raised concerns about the dangers of kratom, including addiction, adverse health effects and potential death. The Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings and generally recommends against kratom use where it is not banned, but Congress has not approved a federal kratom law.

Critics of the Detroit resolution said the debate should account for the growing number of synthetic kratom products. Reports of kratom-linked deaths across the country have often involved synthetic products like 7-OH, though the exact role of those substances varies from case to case.