Tewksbury Board of Health Votes to Advance Kratom Regulation Toward Public Hearing

Board of Health · Meeting of June 24, 2026

Tewksbury Board of Health votes to advance a kratom regulation toward a public hearing, targeting late July. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize staff to prepare and publicly notice a proposed regulation on kratom products after a presentation by Cheryl Sbarra, executive director and senior staff attorney of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, who told members that synthetic kratom, mislabeled as natural plant-based kratom and sold in gas stations and convenience stores, is being used "rampantly by middle and high school kids" and has been linked to wrongful death cases nationally. Sbarra said a draft ban regulation prepared by her organization has already received a favorable review from Tewksbury's town counsel, and that distinguishing natural from synthetic products during inspections has proved unworkable even for larger health departments like Northampton's.

In a separate vote, the board set a July 30 deadline for an update on 70 Katie's Way, a property declared unfit for habitation after a June 9 inspection found no electricity and a fly infestation, with no fines currently imposed because the owner has been cooperative despite court-ordered access barriers. A resident also urged the board to take an assertive role at the June 30 Energy Facilities Siting Board hearing on a proposed battery energy storage system, telling members the full EFSB panel is required to review only a 200-page tentative decision and that the board's attorney will have just 10 minutes at South Station.

In the full story:

• Public Hearing: 70 Katie's Way
• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Procedural steps and outcome
• Implications and what is next
• New Business: Kratom Regulation Discussion
• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,928 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of June 24, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.