HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 1571 (2025)Docusign Envelope ID: OC7664ED-2DA8-48A2-A93C-945164D0610E
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.
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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.
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(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
suggests that the product contains kratom leaf, mitragynine, 7-
Hydroxymitragynine, or "7-OH."
SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect on the 31 st 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.
re
Signed b
AU NEtW8ARD,
Mayor
ATTEST:
DS
Signed by:
iCa aSa&
E R A°` 0`YAE9U DA,
City Clerk
Ordinance No. 1571
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DocuSigned by:
DAVIbIff.3REMb I G,
City Attorney
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:
COUNCILMEMBER AYES:
COUNCILMEMBER NOES:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT:
COUNCILMEMBER RECUSED:
Signed by: F6DS
i, yma.
ERICADWYASUDA,
City Clerk
Lumbard, Nielsen, Gallagher, Schnell, Fink (5)
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
Ordinance No. 1571
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