The Bucks County District Attorney’s office has launched a crackdown on vape shops that sell kratom to minors, a plant-derived stimulant that has similar effects of opioids.
DA Joe Kahn spoke outside the Zaza Vape & Cigar on Durham Road in Buckingham as detectives conducted a raid Sept. 2, collecting evidence in brown paper bags.
“This is a facility that for years has been selling to children in Bucks County, specifically here in the Buckingham community, selling them all kinds of products that are dangerous, that are illegal and that are sometimes both,” Kahn said.
Kahn said Zaza’s employees don’t ask for ID when selling products containing tobacco or from items containing kratom,
a stimulant derived from the leaves of a tree found in southeast Asia. It can produce opioid-like effects.
Because selling kratom is currently a legal gray area — only last week it was designated by the feds as a Schedule I drug like heroin — Kahn said he's using consumer protection laws to stop the store from selling it to minors.
“We have laws on the books that prohibit unfair, deceptive and misleading practices,” he said.
He called the action “historic” and said that his office may be the first in Pennsylvania to bring civil charges against a store owner for selling the substance.
While acknowledging the regulatory gap of many kratom-derived products, he said he will use consumer protection laws to go after vape shop owners selling the stuff.
Kahn said he expects to extend the store raids countywide.
The store owner wasn't present during the raid. A call to the shop wasn't answered Sept. 4.
Kahn's office opened an investigation a few months ago after hearing about the shop “from a concerned parent.” The store is licensed to sell tobacco products, but buyers under age 30 aren't asked to produce ID, he said.
“It has been selling products to kids which are supposed to require proof of ID,” he said.
“Time and time again, Zaza Vape & Cigar has been found guilty of violating these laws and has simply paid the fine of no more than $100 in most instances, in one instance no more than $500 and has treated this as simply the cost of doing business."
Kahn said the store sells candies popular with kids, along with products containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that gives the user a high.
“This store is selling marijuana cigarettes under the guise that they’re selling products that are legal and perfectly safe for people to own and use,” Kahn said.
Detectives gumshoed the place over the last few months before acting.
“We have uncovered the fact that this is a store that is really running an illicit drug operation,” he said.
But there are virtually no laws regulating kratom.
“In its natural form (it) is something that people have used without any serious consequences for a long time,” Khan said.
He added that effects from the plant may be turbocharged when the active ingredient is extracted from it.
“If you think about (how) the cocoa plant was turned into cocaine powder and then crack cocaine, there are some parallels to how a plant has turned into something that is highly addictive and highly harmful,” he said.
“In the meantime, we have laws in the books that say you can’t run a business using unfair deceptive and misleading processes, and that’s when you’re selling this stuff to kids and that’s why we took action."
JD Mullane can be reached at jmullane@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County DA targets vape shop selling to minors
