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Home My WebLink About13 SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1571 PROHIBITING THE SALE OF KRATOM PRODUCTSDocusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D MEETING DATE TO FROM Agenda Item 13 AGENDA REPORT Reviewed: Mitial City Manager Q� Finance Director N/A NOVEMBER 4, 2025 ALDO E. SCHINDLER, CITY MANAGER ERICA N. YASUDA, CITY CLERK SUBJECT: SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1571 ADDING CHAPTER 10 TO ARTICLE 6 OF THE TUSTIN CITY CODE PROHIBITING THE SALE OF KRATOM PRODUCTS SUMMARY: Adoption of Ordinance No. 1571 would ban the sale, distribution, and advertisement for sale of any product containing any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa (more commonly known as the kratom plant). The purpose of the ordinance is to protect the public health and welfare against the sale and distribution of products which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified as having opioid-like characteristics, and which pose a threat to the health and safety of the American Public. RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council have second reading by title only and adoption of Ordinance No. 1571. FISCAL IMPACT: Minimal fiscal impact associated with efforts to enforce the prohibition by the City's code enforcement and/or law enforcement personnel. CORRELATION TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN: Tustin's Strategic Plan Goal B: Public Safety and Protection calls for the City to "Ensure Tustin is an attractive, safe and well -maintained community in which people feel pride." BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION: On October 21, 2025, the City Council had first reading by title only of Ordinance No. 1571: ORDINANCE NO. 1571 Docusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D City Council Agenda Report Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No.1571 November 4, 2025 Page 2 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 10 (PROHIBITION ON THE SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF KRATOM PRODUCTS) TO ARTICLE 6 (PUBLIC WELFARE) OF THE TUSTIN CITY CODE Erica X yasuda Erica N. Yasuda City Clerk Attachment: 1. Ordinance No. 1571 Docusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D ORDINANCE NO. 1571 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 10 (PROHIBITION ON THE SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF KRATOM PRODUCTS) TO ARTICLE 6 (PUBLIC WELFARE) OF THE TUSTIN CITY CODE The City Council of the City of Tustin does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1. The City Council finds and determines as follows: A. The City of Tustin ("City") is empowered pursuant to California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, to make and enforce within its jurisdiction all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws. B. California Health & Safety Code section 101450 empowers the City Council to take measures necessary to preserve and protect the public health, including adopting ordinances, regulations, and orders that are not in conflict with general laws. C. The kratom plant (Migtragyna speciosa) is a tropical evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia, the leaves of which contain psychoactive constituents, including the compounds mitragynine, and 7-Hydroxymitragynine (" 7-OH"). D. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has stated that the increased availability and marketing of certain products containing kratom leaves and/or their components poses an emerging public health threat, especially when considering the increasing availability of enhanced or concentrated kratom products in the marketplace. E. The FDA has indicated that 7-OH produces respiratory depression, physical dependence, and withdrawal symptoms characteristic of classical opioids, such as fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone, and that the pharmacological profile, abuse liability, and emerging patterns of non -medical use establish 7-OH as a dangerous substance. F. Despite the fact that the kratom leaf and its chemical components are unlawful when added to conventional foods, as dietary supplements, or as ingredients in any FDA -approved drug, there are currently no laws which prohibit sale of these products. G. The FDA has confirmed that current regulatory gaps have enabled widespread availability of kratom products despite their opioid-like properties, which necessitates immediate policy intervention to address this emerging threat to American Public Health. 4908-0360-5100, v. 1 Docusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D H. Kratom products are not regulated by the United States government, nor are they subject to government -mandated safety checks, which has resulted in a lack of oversight and safety standards for use, regulation of ingredients, purity levels, and dosage. I. Various state and local governments have prohibited the sale and distribution of kratom products in their respective jurisdictions. J. The City desires to prohibit the sale and distribution of kratom products within the City in order to protect the public health and welfare of its residents. SECTION 2. New Chapter 10 (Prohibition on the Sale and Distribution of Kratom Products) is hereby added to Article 6 (Public Welfare) of the Tustin City Code to read as follows: CHAPTER 10 — PROHIBITION ON THE SALE OF KRATOM PRODUCTS 6930 — DEFINITIONS The following words, terms, and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except when the context clearly indicates a different meaning: (1) "Distribute" means to furnish, give away, exchange, transfer, deliver, or supply, whether or not for monetary gain. (2) "Kratom Product" means the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa or any food product, food ingredient, dietary ingredient, dietary supplement, or beverage intended for human consumption that contains any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa or any extract, synthetic alkaloid, or synthetically derived compound of such plant or its leaf, including but not limited to, any powder, capsule, pill, beverage, or other edible product intended for human consumption. (3) "Leaf" means any or all parts of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa that contains mitragynine or 7-Hydroxymitragynine. (4) "Sell" or "sale" means to furnish, exchange, transfer, deliver, or supply for monetary gain. 6931 — SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF KRATOM PROHIBITED (a) It is unlawful to sell, advertise for sale, offer for sale, or distribute, directly or indirectly, any kratom product in the City. (b) It is unlawful to sell, advertise for sale, offer for sale, or distribute, directly or indirectly, any product, the packaging for which indicates, implies, or otherwise 4908-0360-5100, v. 1 Docusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D suggests that the product contains kratom leaf, mitragynine, 7- Hydroxymitragynine, or "7-OH." SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect on the 31st day after its adoption. The City Clerk or his or her duly appointed deputy shall certify to adoption of the Ordinance and cause this Ordinance to be published as required by law. SECTION 4. CEQA Exemption. The City Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Chapter 3, sections 15060, subdivision (c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060, subdivision (c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in section 15378 and by Public Resources Code section 21065) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. SECTION 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held out to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council of the City of Tustin hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. PASSED AND ADOPTED, at a regular meeting of the City Council for the City of Tustin on this 4th day of November, 2025. AUSTIN LUMBARD, MAYOR ATTEST: ERICA N. YASUDA, CITY CLERK APPROVED AS TO FORM: DocuSigned by: DA DIG, CITYATTORNEY 4908-0360-5100, v. 1 Docusign Envelope ID: 57D6COCO-360E-445D-BE3A-A5077108520D STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss. CITY OF TUSTIN ) CERTIFICATION FOR ORDINANCE NO. 1571 I, Erica N. Yasuda, City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, does hereby certify: (1) that the full title of the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 1571 was included on the City Council's published agendas for its meetings on the 21 st day of October 2025, the 4th day of November 2025; (2) that a copy of the full ordinance was made available to the public online and in print at the meeting prior its passage; (3) that the whole number of the members of the City Council of the City of Tustin is five; and (4) that the ordinance was duly and regularly introduced at the regular meeting of the City Council held on the 21 st day of October 2025 and was given its second reading, passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 4th day of November 2025, by the following vote: COUNCILPERSONS AYES: COUNCILPERSONS NOES: COUNCILPERSONS ABSTAINED: COUNCILPERSONS ABSENT: Erica N. Yasuda, City Clerk Published: 4908-0360-5100, v. 1