Bill Text: VA HJR39 | 2020 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Kratom; Board of Pharmacy to study whether it should be classified as a controlled substance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - Left in Rules [HJR39 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR39-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, kratom is a tropical evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia, with leaves that contain compounds that can have psychotropic effects; and
WHEREAS, a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from July 2016 to December 2017, 91 American people who fatally overdosed tested positive for kratom; and
WHEREAS, a study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital found an increase in calls to U.S. poison control centers for natural psychoactive substances generally, with a 5,000 percent increase in kratom exposure from 2011 to 2017 and kratom accounting for eight of the 42 deaths identified in the study; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Board of Pharmacy be requested to study whether Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom, should be classified as a controlled substance in the Commonwealth.
In conducting its study, the Board of Pharmacy shall determine (i) the number of deaths in the Commonwealth where kratom was a contributing factor, (ii) if and to what extent there have been other medical problems associated with kratom reported by citizens of the Commonwealth, (iii) the extent to which kratom is used by citizens of the Commonwealth, (iv) if and to what extent there are health benefits associated with kratom, (v) the cost associated with adding kratom to the list of controlled substances in the Commonwealth, and (vi) how kratom should be scheduled and classified in the Code of Virginia if the Board of Pharmacy determines that kratom should be classified as a controlled substance;
All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Board of Pharmacy for this study, upon request.
The Board of Pharmacy shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2020, and shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
