Des Plaines changes direction, bans kratom sales

The Des Plaines City Council on Monday outlawed the sale of potentially intoxicating products made from the kratom tree.

Like cannabis, kratom leaves can be ingested for possible therapeutic or high-inducing purposes.

But unlike cannabis, kratom products aren’t regulated by state or federal agencies and often are available at vape stores and gas stations. They’re considered potentially dangerous by medical and law enforcement representatives.

Despite several attempts, the Illinois General Assembly hasn’t banned psychoactive kratom products.

The Des Plaines city council in April tentatively approved a local ban on unlicensed products made with kratom or THC, the intoxicating chemical in marijuana, in town. But when the plan came up for a final vote in early May, a divided council struck kratom products from the proposal, after hearing from residents who said they use it for pain management.

On Monday, the council voted 6-2 to amend the restrictions and include kratom.

“I feel they need to investigate that product a lot more,” 7th Ward Alderman Patsy Smith said before voting for the change.

First Ward Alderman Mark Lysakowski and 6th Ward Alderman Mark Walsten opposed banning kratom. They — along with Smith and the 4th Ward’s Dick Sayad — had supported removing the products from the ordinance in May.

Retailers have 60 days to sell or otherwise dispose of their stock of kratom products before sales are prohibited. Violators will face fines ranging from $200 to $750.

Wheeling, Geneva and North Aurora are among the other suburbs that have outlawed selling hemp and kratom.