EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville City Council meeting of March 3, 2020, banned MDPV, also known as “bath salts”.
The topic of MDPV is a controversial one, with many individuals using it as a means of recovery from opioid addictions and as help for other ailments. Others fear the possibilities of addiction and abuse.
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The council voted on, and ultimately passed the ordinance that would prohibit the use, possession, distribution, and delivery of MDPV.
“The action will update the cities ordinance regarding the use of bath salts and include kratom, a stimulant that mirrors the effects of opioid drugs. Updating this ordinance will add kratom to the list of illegal substances in the cities ordinance files,” said Alderman Risavy before the vote.
The council was met with individuals speaking before the council in opposition of the ban. Members of the council mentioned the hundreds of emails they received both in favor and against the new ban.
“At a committee level there was much discussion, it came to the conclusion that there is not enough evidence that has been done on kratom and its effects. It is useful for some as we heard tonight and it's abused by others. The way that it was described to us by medical experts at the committee level, it just appears there is not enough research and data that encouraged us to move forward,” said Alderman Risavy.
The entire council spoke in agreement, they all were for the ban of MDPV in Edwardsville. The idea of the ban was brought forward by the Edwardsville Police Department, but it wasn’t mentioned what caused the sudden rise in concern. The drug has already been banned in many cities and states across the country already, but is still unregulated within Illinois.
“I think for me this was a learning experience. Aside from seeing the name kratom on billboards and various advertising areas around St. Louis, I didn’t know anything about it until it was presented to us at public safety by our police officers. And from there I went and did some homework, reading up on it. Of course, we received a lot of emails from various individuals both for and against it and we even had a representative at the last ACS meeting from the SIUE School of Pharmacy who is a doctoral candidate who has signatures from his fellow candidates at the pharmacy program to ask that we consider banning this drug within our community,” said Alderman Krause.
"I think at this time it is the right measure, and that's to not discount anybody that has found a viable use for this, but I think there are other means out there if people are looking to wean off of opioids until we have a better understanding. The country of origin, Thailand and Southeast Asia where this leaf originally comes from, many of those countries have already moved to prohibit within their own boundaries in several of the move even liberal European Union countries have moved to ban it. So I think that the verdict is murkier on this one and we are erring on the side of caution until more information becomes available if we ban it,” continued Krause.
The council claimed it was a precautionary move and all in concern for the safety of citizens. They stated that they could always overturn the ban if proper research arose. Mayor Patton mentioned that not much scientific research has been done, and the FDA hadn’t even yet released any official statements on MDPV.
“It’s a terrible spot to be in but hopefully the state can take this measure up or the federal government can take it up and get more consistent scientific research,” said Mayor Patton.
In the end, MDPV is now officially completely banned in the City of Edwardsville.
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