Ohio Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review - 4-13-2026

Senator Gavron? Here.

Senator Brenner? Present.

Senator Craig? Here.

Representative Lorenz? Here.

Representative Brennan? Here.

Quorum is present. Let the record show that we have a quorum present. Members, on your iPads, you'll find the minutes of the March 23, 2026 JCAR meeting. Are there any corrections or additions to the minutes? All right. Seeing none, let the record show the minutes were approved as presented. Director, would you please read the no change agenda? Thank you. The no change agenda for this afternoon includes item one, Department of Administrative Services Division of Human Resources, one rule. Item two, Department of Agriculture Markets, two rules. Item three, Department of Health, one rule. Item four, Department of Higher Education, one rule. Item five, Department of Job and Family Services Child Support, one rule. Item six and seven, Department of Job and Family Services Unemployment Compensation, two rules. Department of Natural Resources, Division of Endangered Species, 3 rules. Item 9, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, 22 rules. Item 10, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Watercraft, 33 rules. Item 11, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Watercraft and Waterways, 3 rules. Item 12, Department of Public Safety, 5 rules. Item 13, Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services, 7 rules. Items 14 through 17, Department of Rehabilitation and correction, six rules. Items 18 through 20, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Division of Parole and Community Services, 11 rules. Item 21, Industrial Commission, nine rules. Item 22, Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, two rules. Item 23, school employee retirement system, four rules. Items 24 and 25, Secretary of State, Business Services, 30 rules. Withdrawn. Item 26, Auditor of State, 10 rules. That completes the reading of the no change agenda. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Are there questions by members about items on the no change agenda? Are there any comments from the public? All right. Seeing none, Director, would you please read the regular agenda? The regular agenda for this afternoon includes items one and two, Accountancy Board, three roles. Items three and four, Auditor of State, 25 roles. Items five through seven, Bureau of Workers' Compensation, five roles. Item eight, Department of Administrative Services, Division of Human Resources, one role. Item nine, Department of Aging, five roles. Item 10, Department of Children and Youth, Children's Services and Supports, one rule. Items 11 and 12, Department of Children and Youth, Licensing and Certification, two rules. Item 13, Department of Children and Youth, Young Adult Supports, two rules. Item 14, Department of Developmental Disabilities, two rules. Item 15, Department of Health, three rules. Item 16 and 17, Department of Job and Family Services, Unemployment Compensation, two rules. Item 18, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resource Management, Oil and Gas, one rule. Item 19, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Watercraft, one rule. Item 20, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, 19 rules. Items 21 through 23, Department of Public Safety. Madam Co-Chair, item 21 has three rules that were TBR'd at 11.53 this morning. They are 4501-7-05-12 and 13. This will be reflected on the posted version of our regular agenda this afternoon. Item 24, Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator, Security Guard Services, 13 rules. Item 25, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, one rule. Item 26, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Division of Parole and Community Services, one rule. Items 27 through 29, Department of Taxation, three rules. Item 30, Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, two rules. Item 31, Department of Medicaid, Eligibility, three rules. Item 32, Medical Transportation Board, eight rules. Item 33, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and an athletic trainer's board, orthotics, prosthetics, and pedorthics, one rule. Item 34, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, utilities, five rules. Item 35, school employees' retirement system, one rule. Item 36, State Board of Pharmacy, controlled substances and drugs of concern. I believe we have witnesses that wish to testify on this item, Madam Co-Chair. Yes, the regular agenda item number 36 will be moved to the review portion of today's agenda. Okay. Item 37 is Board of Pharmacy drug compounding, one rule. Item 38, Board of Pharmacy home medical equipment service providers, one rule. Item 39, State Board of Pharmacy pharmacy interns, three rules. Item 40, State Dental Board, three rules. Item 41, State Teachers Retirement System defined benefits, six rules. Item 42, Statewide Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network Steering Committee, 15 rules. Item 43 is to be refiled, Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control, seven rules. Item 44, Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator, Security Guard Services, one rule. Item 45, Statewide Emergency Services, Internet Protocol, Network Steering Committee, one rule. And withdrawn. Item 46, Department of Veteran Services, one rule. This completes the reading of the regular agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions from members about items on the regular agenda? Are there any additional comments from the public? All right. Those agencies that do not have items on the review portion of the agenda may exit the room at this time Thank you. In the view portion, we have regular agenda item number 36, proposed rule 4729-9-1-01.1. Two proponents, actually four proponents, I believe, are here to testify today. First, I'd like to call Susie Bullard forward. Good afternoon. Welcome to JCAR. Thank you. I just need a minute. Thank you. Hello, my name is Susie Bullard. I'd like to thank co-chair Senator Gaviron and the committee. I'd like to begin by expressing my sincere thanks to each of you for allowing me to have a few moments of your time. The next few minutes of this time together that we'll be sharing will not be easy for me. What I'm about to share pertains to the utmost worst thing in my life. it's my sincere hope that the words I speak to you today reveal the heaviness and the heart of the message that I have for you to hear and understand to help convey my thoughts to you I found it helpful for me to speak about some of the opposite forces of power that have influenced and impacted my son's life the first opposite set of words is freedom versus bondage I'd like to begin by introducing my son to you Philip. He is now and forever will be 27 years old. His life began on May 19th. And while I don't have an exact baby picture for you, this is Philip as a young baby. This is Philip, a little guy. This is Philip getting ready to go to college. He went to Lee University in Tennessee. And this is Philip right before he passed. On November 8th, 2024, Philip's life ended unexpectedly and tragically. There'll no longer be any more birthday celebrations on May 19th for my son. I don't have the words to explain the feeling of dread that comes about even the sight of looking at May 19th. That date has been etched on his headstone right beside his birth date. Freedom versus bondage. Philip died in bondage. He was born free. He died to kratom. His brain was hijacked from kratom. He was shackled and bound to a toxic substance that children, adults, youth can purchase at a gas station and vape shops. The next opposite power force at work in his life was truth versus lies. Once Philip's addiction to kratom was openly known and discussed with my husband and me, Philip explained the easy and basic access to kratom. He assured he would go into a gas station, and the clerk had kratom displayed at the counter, and at the register would promote it and market it and introduced it as a substance that helped with anxiety Philip explained how Kratom was promoted as legal that it would help anxiety and the deceptive packages then therefore contain no label warnings no reference to potential harmful synergistic effects with other medications or substances or interactions with anything else that one might take. Additionally, the packages don't have any warnings about the potential for addiction, dependency, and withdrawal if taken. For my son, the trap controlled his body and his brain, and it snapped, and he stepped into this elusive and divisive snare of kratom. The curiosity and vulnerability of this enticing substance had wooed him. There's a hijacking in the brain that begins here. I'll leave the science of addiction, of the body and brain connection, to the licensed physicians who are board-certified addictionologists who genuinely and faithfully uphold their title and role as a physician and healer to do no harm. Philip once told me that in the city where he was living at the time, there were billboards advertising Kratom. While I live in Ohio and have not personally seen any billboards, I do see neon signs and large flapping waving flags outside of gas stations and vape shops saying the word Kratom. In the world of advertising, let's talk a little bit about deceptive and tricky packaging of kratom. This substance has been inserted into a variety of options for consumption. Candy, drinks, capsules, powder, liquid shots, beverages, etc. A friend just told me recently that kratom was on a menu at a non-alcoholic bar that it could be added to their drink for a dollar. Interesting. A non-alcoholic bar with kratom. Who's the targeted age group for use and purchase of Kratom candy? Does that sound strange? Does anybody remember the Marlboro Man and the character Joe Camel? Do you recall the deceptive tactics that were used on children to lure them to cigarettes? It took years of litigation to implement policy change and regulations on the way tobacco industry could advertise. I suggest you compare the historical tobacco tactics to present-day marketing tactics for Kratom. Now I speak truth. Philip's use and dependency of kratom continued. The amount and frequency began to increase. He told us about the brutal withdrawal that he would experience without it. I watched him go through acute withdrawal. Ironically, kratom is promoted to help with anxiety, yet it was the main contributing factor to his anxiety. Panic and fear set in without certainty of not being able to gain access to this substance. Does that sound strange for an herbal supplement? To expose the truth, the compulsion for kratom also impacted how Philip could afford this costly habit. The assurance to have access is compounded by the need to take more and more kratom. The financial realm was bound to have a negative impact. These dynamics and negative consequences cause anxiety. There's a negative loop and a pattern that fits this criteria for addiction. When you read the DSM-5 for substance use disorder, Philip undoubtedly met the criteria for that diagnosis. How does a mom convince a son that this is the truth, that he has this addiction? The brain disease of addiction is wicked. The wickedness of my son's addiction to Kratom leads me now to sight versus blindness. Metaphorically speaking, the trap and snare of Philip's addiction ultimately blinded his world. For quite some time, he was blinded from the truth about the true effects. He tried to defend its supposed benefits. That wasn't convincing me. However, as a health care professional myself, I'm very aware of how someone with addiction can emphatically take a defensive posture and use the tactics of denial, rationalization, minimalization, intellectualization. These are defense mechanisms. They're tactics that people use. When in active use of kratom, Philip couldn't see his future. While under the blinding oppression of kratom, those living under it, their brains are under this control, this substance. Healthy forward thinking and planning are distorted when the brain and body are merely just trying to survive. The brain's drive to set realistic goals and create methodical plans to achieve those goals are suppressed. For example, working in health care. Take it when a patient in an ICU signs out AMA out of an ICU. They're leaving because they need to go find their substance when you have someone with an active substance use addiction. There's no logic and reason from signing out from an ICU. But that's how this works. Philip struggled to see a way and a hope from way out of his addiction until he agreed to an evidence-based model for treatment. He tried talking to his PCP about help, but that was unsuccessful. And I will add that working in health care, and I've shared this story, I work in a hospital, over and over and over health care professionals are not aware of this. It's not readily educated in the medical community, something that you buy at gas stations. I had a 40-minute conversation with the ER director last week at our hospital. When he was inpatient treatment after the first few weeks of being there, my husband and I could literally see our son's personality return. I'm thankful for that. Phillip wanted to become a law enforcement officer for the most of his short life. He never had a criminal record. He had a degree in criminal justice. Shortly after his final stay in rehab, he began to look for work, and he was hired to work in a low-level correctional facility. He was actually working on a promotion. He seemed encouraged. The last few times that I saw him, you could actually see the light in Philip's future shining brightly. He was thinking forward. However, a guiding light does not always lead in a linear path, as we all know. Darkness and light are competing forces. Philip was living in a dark place under Kratom. With addiction, the bondage and dependency it often leads to of feelings of shame, guilt, entrapment, disappointment. Probably most everyone here has either known someone with an addiction or is in recovery, or maybe perhaps yourself. That negative thought loop is in the head of someone struggling with addiction. It's real. The thoughts and the cravings, they just overcome that person. There's no on and off switch. It's not a voluntary thing. It's very involuntary. The work is hard. In Phillip's fight, he routinely attended recovery meetings and made the decision to live in a sober living facility. He also made a secure connection with a sponsor. Philip would invite me and my husband to attend recovery meetings. He wanted us to understand his disease and meet the strong and brave people in the recovery community. I'm honored that I did that. With everything I have to say to you today, I want to make this certainly clear, that I have deep compassion and empathy for those who are dealing with the disease of addiction. After attending these meetings, I listened and learned. I heard the people of this community safely, openly, transparently, share their brutal dark places they've been to. When the truth is embraced, the light does and will shine. Hope becomes real. The last time I saw Philip, he read one of the recovery statements out loud to the group. If any of you have ever been to a meeting, there's a whole litany of things that they read, the first probably 20 minutes. He believed the 12 steps now. His thoughts were based on truth. His thinking had shifted to upholding the principles of the 12-step program instead of defending Kratom. The flip had happened. My final two words to you today are the two words that carry the most impact of all, of everything I've said to you. They're my megaphone words to you. The two words are life and death. On the evening of November 7th, Philip set his alarm to go to work. He never woke up on November 8th. I despise 6.45 a.m. every Friday morning. His life was so short and permanently over, I can't even look at a clock at 6.45 until I know it's over with. For weeks, my husband and I waited and waited to learn what happened to Philip. The why bereaved parents have is an unanswerable question. If you've ever known anybody who's lost a child, it's normal to ask why. There's no answer. I've met over 100 bereaved parents in the last 17 months, heard their stories, and nobody has the answer why. The toxicology from his autopsy report revealed mitragynine is the culprit. His death was ruled as an accident. For mitragynine, he relapsed for the last time. Now I have that loop in my own mind. My head plays the sound of my husband crying and telling me he died. Since his death, my life now is consumed with grief, shattering, profound, deeply sorrowful grief. I spend my time apart from work, attending grief counseling, grief groups, reading grief books, attending grief retreats, grief conferences, listening to grief podcasts, attending grief support groups online. I'm thankful for those, by the way. I have now joined that club that no parent ever wants to join. Once you're in the club, the membership is permanent. It's for a lifetime. Ask any parent of their greatest fear in life, and if any of you have children, think yourself the answer of your greatest fear in life. Maybe it's losing your child or children. If that, too, has been your own fear, then hear me. If you've lost your child or your grandchildren yourself, I am deeply sorry for your loss. This disease knows no bounds. It doesn know an age group a bank account amount a zip code educational status societal position career family Nobody is exempt It can strike anyone at any time An addiction is a notorious precipitator to negative and tragic consequences. In the past 17 months, I've had a lot of thinking time. I have some unanswered questions. Maybe you know the answer. I don't to any of these. So as I wrap it up, they're if-then statements. If Cratom is so good and safe, then why don't we see doctors ordering it for the patients in the acute care setting or in drug treatment programs? To take it a step further, if Cratom is so good and safe, then why doesn't it show up on the patient's list of to-be-taken medications handed to them when you leave your PCP appointment or when you leave the hospital? Where is it? I've never seen it on a list anywhere in healthcare, and I read lots of charts. I've been doing what I do for 35 years. Do doctors tell their patients to swing by the gas station on their way home from their appointment to pick up some kratom? Is that what the journals recommend? If kratom is so good and so safe, then why is it being called gas station heroin? If kratom leads to a pathway for health and wellness, then why don't they sell it at Walgreens or CVS? If it's so helpful, then why are so many states working to ban it versus just regulate it? If Kratom is so helpful and safe, then why are more and more people being admitted into drug treatment rehab facilities for it? And why do insurance companies pay for treatment? If Kratom is so medically helpful in the treatment of addiction, then where and who are the long list of addictionologists promoting it with evidence-based treatment? If kratom is so good, then why has the governor and Dr. McCary at the FDA referred to it as a public health crisis? If kratom is so good and safe, then tell me, do the people that manufacture it, sell it, and advertise it give the candy to their own kids and grandchildren and pregnant friends and family? Do they mix it in their kids' drinks? Do they tell them when they have anxiety to take some? The final words to you today are light, sight, truth, freedom, and life. This is personal. I live one day at a time, sometimes one breath at a time. I'm slowly learning to find hope. Little by little, my eyes can see flickers of light on the path ahead. My heart beat one at a time. I cling to my faith. I believe in the matchless and unwavering character of God. I'm not mad at God. I believe his character to be true. and I trust that one day I will experience the same freedom from the overwhelming grief that I carry right now. I'd like to just share a prayer with you that I truly and sincerely pray about this matter in my life. I sincerely pray that those who are blinded from the truth about Kratom and live under its oppression and bondage in any way are once and for all fully liberated from the lies, deception, and shackles that have enslaved them to Kratom. I pray the mud covering their eyes is washed away and their vision is restored. I want to thank you for your time, attention, and your listening ear. Thank you for sharing your personal story. I'm so deeply sorry for your loss. Thank you. Are there any questions?

Yes, Representative Brennan.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My response is, how is that person defending it, that it's medically healthy, necessary? We have the governor who wrote a letter to the pharmacy board that noted from 2019 to 2024 that there was at least 200 Ohioans noted to have been deceased. That's my son in that number. If it's so good and so safe, that number should be zero. Zero. There should be metrics to show it's safe. That's not a metric of safety. No matter what kind it is, whether it's hydroxymitragynine, 7-OH, or just the plant-based mitragynine, my position, by the way, Phillips' toxicology report from his autopsy was mitragynine, not 7-OH. So don't be deceived. Do not be deceived that the other kind, the plant kind, is safe. The questions that I have, the if-then questions, all apply to that as well. to both. So we work in a world of evidence. Where's the evidence it's safe? Death is not a metric of safety. I hope that helps.

Thank you. Are there any other questions? Seeing none, thank you very much. Thank you. Next, I'd like to call Roger Bullard forward. And I'd like to remind the witnesses that at J-CAR we can only act on the J-CAR prongs. So if we want to limit our testimony to the prongs, that would be helpful. Good afternoon. My name is Roger Bullard. I'm here today to speak in support of illegalizing and banning the sale, purchase, and possession of all forms of kratom. It has been said that from broken hearts, devastating events, and unspeakable tragedies come our most beloved masterpieces that hang in the greatest galleries. Familiar words become our beloved poetry and comforting lyrics that soothe our souls. It is also true that unfamiliar treatment, unfair treatment, civil unrest, and devastating communicable diseases come some of our most profound laws. Years ago, someone once said to me, everyone cares, but only a few care enough to do something. Little did I know that those words would one day come knocking on my door, forcing me to make a decision. Am I going to be one who simply cares or one who cares enough to act? It's a tough question. It's haunting. Today, at this moment, you too are forced, faced with that question. Your response will determine your professional legacy in the years to come. I stand before you because I am my son's hope. Hope is a big word. It's complicated. Hope speaks to the idea of something better, something more rich, something more beautiful. Today, the hope is that those in power will come to understand that kratom has cemented itself as another addictive chemical that alters one's ability to make rational and logical choices. Excuse me, I'd like to remind you that we can only act on the J-CAR prongs if you want to tailor your testimony to the J-CAR prongs. I'm not for sure what that means. But the prongs, whether the rule exceeds statutory authority, whether the rule is inconsistent with legislative intent, there are a number of JCAR, eight statutorily created prongs. I don't know if they're printed out anywhere, but that's all the authority that JCAR has, the ability to act on, not the substance of the rule itself, but whether or not it violates one of the prongs. Okay. I'll just continue the best I can. Kratom has the potential to hijack a part of one's brain leading him or her into the disease of addiction. Like so many others, my son was sold on to the idea that kratom would help him sleep, to calm his anxieties, and to ease his depression. Corporate leaders have camouflaged kratom as a convenient product that alleviates such conditions. Some may find kratom to be beneficial, and some may use it without ill effects yet. However, for many, too many like my son, kratom was fatal. The disease of addiction serpentines itself around the lives of all involved. Thus, it's called a family disease, a brain disease, because the disease of addiction affects every aspect of one's life. Due to Kratom's easy accessibility at thousands of gas stations, vape shops, and convenience stores, and due to the legality to sell, purchase, and possess it, makes it all the more easy for Ohioans to be misled by its addictive and deadly powers. The disease of addiction is not a moral failure, but a failure of our system that allows such items to be so accessible. Excuse me could you clarify if you are in favor of the rule or if you like it invalidated I would like to illegalize it So you are supportive of the rule that going forward Yes Okay Thank you for the clarification The rule will go forward unless there's an action to have it invalidated. Okay. Our son, Phillip, died on the morning November 8, 2024. He died in his sleep after taking kratom. His death certificate lists Kratom as the cause of his death. As we grieve our son, we grieve the loss of his dreams, developing his professional career, and becoming a community leader. If you could wrap things up in about a minute. And closing. I'm reminded of the words of Helen Keller. Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. My hope is not lost, and we will find a joint overcoming obstacles. As each of you move forward in this debate, I encourage each of you to be the one who cares enough to do something. Thank you so much for coming forward. Are there any questions? Thank you very much. Next, we'd like to call Jennifer Zapatka forward. Thank you, and I'd like to remind you to tailor your comments to the J-CAR process. Thank you. Please proceed when you're ready. Good afternoon, co-chair Senator Gaviron and members of the committee. My name is Jenny Zapadka, and I'm a social worker in the state of Ohio. I've lived here my whole life. I'd like to say that I support the pharmacy board and do believe they are acting within their authority to make synthetic kratom a class one scheduled controlled substance. And with that, thank you for your time and your work on the matter. And I will say that in the clients that I have seen with this recently at the hospital where I work at, that there definitely is a pattern of abuse that happens where they start taking one or two, and within weeks they're taking 10, 20, 30 more a day. So I appreciate the work that you're doing. Thank you. Are there any questions by members of the committee? Seeing none, thank you very much. And next, I'd like to call Mayor Robin Oda forward. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for the hearing and for the opportunity to speak. I am the mayor of the city of Troy, Ohio, a small city in southwest Ohio, and we definitely support the rule. I would encourage you to support the rule. We are anxious to have this eliminated from the state of Ohio. I want it eliminated for my community. We are seeing the damage every day, and I sit on our Miami County Drug-Free Coalition. We, along with myself, our police chief, fire chief, county commissioner, and our sheriff, have been writing to the pharmacy board, and we are definitely in support of the ban. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Are there any questions?

Yes, Representative Brennan.

Yeah. I don't care what you call it. It's destructive. We're seeing it in our community. We get phone calls from families who are asking us to do something, and we have to tell them right now we can't. We're waiting on this state. I want to see the state of Ohio take the lead on this. Thank you very much.

Are there any other questions? Seeing none, thank you very much. Are there any other comments that members of the public would like to share with the committee at this time? Are there any questions from members for the Board of Pharmacy's representatives?

If the Board of Pharmacy would come forward. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate it.

Yeah, so that was provided as part of the rule summary fiscal analysis, and we based it on a per product cost. There was an analysis done on the per milligram cost for 7-hydroxy-metragynine and other similar related products. And so, currently, I mean, obviously, it's currently banned now. So, but we assess the fiscal impact as if it wasn't.

Sure, yeah.

I haven't seen it, and that's my fault. No, no, you're good. Sorry, let me pull it up real quick. Apologies. So, metragegian related compounds, the average cost to consumer average is about $3.97 per recommended dose. Therefore obviously the business selling these products would be expected to lose that revenue because of the adoption of the rule. Thank you. Follow up?

To the Chair, through the Chair, to the Representative, so the rule exempts preparations of natural kratom and expressly states metragynine in vegetation form, including natural kratom leaf and ground natural kratom leaf, in accordance with 3715 of the revised code, are exempted from the definition of metragynine-related compounds. So obviously it's the form in which it's prepared, which will be the clear delineation of what's allowed and what's not allowed. Thank you very much. Are there any other questions?

Yes, Representative Brennan.

Through the chair to the representative. So, yes, so we actually, so for example, we've done this in several other scheduling actions where we schedule what we call the pharmacophore, which is the core structure. So, for example, any fentanyl structure that is not FDA approved is automatically a schedule and controlled substance. So we have ways of sort of getting ahead of some of these chemists. This rule is based off of the old THC language that occurred before we obviously changed the program. And it's held up to court review. And so that's why we went this way. But certainly we can explore avenues with, you know, trying to get ahead of, at least with these products, a farm work before like rule as well.

Follow up.

Thank you. Are there any other questions? Seeing none, thank you very much. Thank you. Before we move on, I'd like to direct the members' attention to written testimony received on this rule, and these documents are available on your iPads. The next JCAR meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 11, 2026, at 1.30 p.m. in this room, the Fine Ann Hearing Room. Is there a motion to adjourn? Move to adjourn. We are adjourned.