FARGO, ND – North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong is calling state lawmakers to Bismarck for a September special legislative session after issuing an emergency executive health order to ban the sale, possession, and use of kratom statewide. Speaking on The Jay Thomas Show, Armstrong detailed his thought process behind targeting the drug, framing the swift action as an urgent response to a growing public health crisis that state leaders can no longer ignore. Recent state health data revealed that kratom has been associated with as many as 50 deaths in North Dakota since 2019, with medical examiners identifying the substance as a primary cause of death in 23 of those cases.
In explaining why he moved to ban kratom, Armstrong pointed to its widespread, unregulated availability in convenience stores and smoke shops as “gas station heroin” accessible to anyone without age restrictions. He noted that while low doses act as a stimulant, higher doses bind to the same opioid receptors targeted by narcotics, making the drug extraordinarily addictive. Armstrong also criticized deceptive marketing practices, highlighting how concentrated pill formulations are sold with fine-print instructions to cut pills into quarters—a standard he noted consumers predictably ignore, instead “popping them like aspirin.” Acknowledging that some residents use botanical kratom for chronic pain, the Governor expressed sympathy but maintained that buying unregulated substances from gas stations is a dangerous “Wild West” scenario that requires immediate state intervention.
While an emergency executive order and a Board of Pharmacy rule matching federal regulations can temporarily halt sales, Armstrong explained that a special legislative session is essential because executive authority has strict legal limits. “I can do a lot of things from behind this desk in the governor’s office, I can’t create crimes from behind this desk,” Armstrong said, emphasizing that executive orders cannot grant local police and prosecutors the statutory framework needed for street-level enforcement. Without action from the Legislature, local law enforcement would be left in legal limbo, unable to effectively prosecute distributors or enforce long-term bans.
Timing and procedure also played a major role in the Governor’s decision to call lawmakers back early. Waiting for the next regular legislative session would mean any passed law would not take effect until August 2027—a multi-year delay that Armstrong called unacceptable given the ongoing overdose risks. Furthermore, calling a governor-convened special session allows any newly passed law to take effect immediately upon passage with a simple majority vote, avoiding the two-thirds supermajority required if the Legislature self-convenes. During the upcoming session, Armstrong hopes lawmakers will enact a comprehensive statutory ban while crafting balanced penalties that target commercial sellers rather than criminalizing young consumers who purchased the product legally just weeks prior.
