Bartlett bans sale of kratom, synthetic drugs and nitrous oxide for recreational use

Bartlett trustees Tuesday unanimously banned the sale of kratom products, related synthetic drugs and recreational-use nitrous oxide in the village.

Now Village President Dan Gunsteen is turning his attention to setting an example in the region, first by reaching out to the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.

“I’d encourage them to start having the conversation,” Gunsteen said.

Other suburbs that have banned sales of kratom-related products in recent years include Antioch, Batavia, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Lake Zurich, Mount Prospect, Naperville and Wheaton.

Though the ban was recommended by Bartlett Police Chief Ryan Conway two weeks earlier, some trustees initially had expressed a need for more information on the wide variety of unregulated synthetic kratom derivatives sometimes referred to as “gas station heroin.”

That additional information was found in an educational seminar hosted by DuPage County and Kane County officials, Gunsteen said.

Conway explained Tuesday that his department would embark on a 30-day educational campaign for the 14 businesses known to sell the now-banned products before any enforcement begins.

Over the past three years, Bartlett has responded to 11 calls related to kratom products ranging from retail thefts to overdoses, Conway said.

He added that any effort short of a total ban on kratom sales would challenge enforcement as derivatives regularly are tweaked and packaged as something new and different.

The two village board meetings at which the proposed ban was discussed also attracted testimony from advocates of pure kratom, who sought to characterize it as a source of health benefits distinct from the synthetic derivatives they agreed were dangerous.

Most of those advocates called into the meeting via Zoom from other suburbs and states. Kerrie Petzo, owner of Uncle Stu’s Smoke & Vape in Bartlett, was the only defender who spoke in person Tuesday.

She said pure kratom has helped people overcome addiction to opiates and can relieve pain and help with depression.

“I have cancer survivors who come in my store and credit kratom for saving their lives,” she said.

Petzo added the now-banned products make up nearly 45% of her inventory. She doesn’t think 30 days will be enough for her to adjust and believes she was the only representative among local business owners because most haven’t heard about the ban yet.

But Gunsteen said the six people who called in by Zoom to criticize the ban are more than matched by the emails he received from Bartlett residents who support it. Part of his passion for the cause, he added, is driven by seeing the number of colorful product wrappers that litter the floors of area high schools when he attends events there.

epeterson@dailyherald.com