Connecticut House Bill 6855, currently awaiting the signature of Gov. Ned Lamont, proposes sweeping changes to the state’s drug policy. Ostensibly a bill focused on regulating cannabis, hemp products, and pharmacy practices, HB 6855 also gives heightened authority to the Department of Consumer Protection to designate and schedule additional substances as controlled drugs.

Buried in the language of the bill is a troubling and unjustifiable provision: the inclusion of Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom, as a substance to be classified under Connecticut’s controlled substances framework.

There is no distinction made between the natural leaf, which has centuries of safe use, and more modern concentrated extracts and semi-synthetic or synthetic derivatives that are calling themselves kratom, which should be the focus of this legislation.

The inclusion of regular leaf kratom is not only scientifically unsound, but it also threatens more than 250,000 Connecticut residents who rely on kratom for relief from occasional pain, mood enhancement and for some people, to help them substitute for, or wean off opioids. As a pharmacist, clinical pharmacologist and faculty member in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Pharmacy Practice, I have worked to educate students and vulnerable communities about opioid risks and provided naloxone kits to communities throughout Connecticut to control the opioid epidemic. I fear this one aspect of the bill could be counter to those efforts while the general aspects of the bill are sound.

Not all kratom is equal, and as such lumping whole leaf kratom into this bill is both alarming and unwarranted. Kratom, a plant in the coffee family, has been used safely for centuries in Southeast Asia. Kratom alkaloids primarily work through serotonin and alpha-1 and alpha-2 stimulation and only partially interact with opioid receptors. Animal studies suggest kratom alkaloids are not desired by morphine addicted rats, do not provide euphoric effects like regular opioids, lessen opioid withdrawal symptoms, and ultimately lower the use of opioids.

Anecdotal experiences in illicit opioid users abound suggesting less opioid use and sharing of needles, and enhanced ability to work and care for themselves when kratom is used. In 2024 the Food and Drug Administration set out to establish a safe dosing range and found kratom was well tolerated at all tested levels, even at the highest dose of 12 grams. Until recently, kratom was supplied by law-abiding businesses as natural health remedies and the available evidence suggests it was not a public health threat.

Its pharmacological profile is vastly different from illicit opioids or synthetic compounds sold as dietary supplements (tianeptine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl) that only work through potently stimulating opioid receptors. The 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl products were being sold as kratom and much of the recent fervor against kratom is actually a backlash against these products. Animal studies and anecdotal human experiences strongly suggest that these products cause euphoria, are highly addictive, and reinforce the use of opioids. Bad actors have invaded the market with these synthesized, concentrated, and dangerous products. These synthetic drugs are commonly packaged to target minors by mimicking popular consumer products like ice cream cones, sugar encrusted gummies, taffy, popping crystals, and chocolate bars.

We applaud the Connecticut legislature’s proposed action against these potent opioid receptor stimulators and against other synthetic products such as intoxicating hemp (which chemically convert CBD into intoxicating THC), phenibut, xylazine, and nitrous oxide. While only tianeptine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl potently stimulate opioid receptors like heroin, all these products are referred to as “gas station heroin” because they do not meet the definition of dietary supplements, are addictive/habit forming, pose a direct threat to public health, and are commonly sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and convenience stores.