001Uh good evening. I'd like to call the May 5th meeting of the Ashland Board of Health to order. Um the first thing on our agenda is citizen participation. And as always um if there's any people that uh citizen participation, we do limit that to two minutes. Do I have anybody in the audience for citizen participation? And what about by Zoom? Um, I see Dan Gibbs. You can um Laura, can you unmute him? You should be good. Mr. Gibbs. >> Okay. Good evening, members of the National Board of Health. My name is Dan Gibbs. I'm here as a public safety advocate, as a father. On December 6th, 2023, my 25-year-old son Austin died after ingesting retailratum products marketed as natural leaf. His toxicology identified metragginine with no fentanyl, heroin, or prescription opioids present. The findings were
002consistent with opioid type respiratory depression. I share that to unders underscore a simple point. The risk associated with these products are not theoretical. They are already occurring. As you consider the cratom policy options, I want you to address the materials currently listed on your website. They do not represent a neutral scientific review. They reflect a curated set of speakers, many align with ind industry supported advocacy efforts who consistently promote maintaining retail access while focusing only on 70. The distinction does not fully account for the underlying pharmarmacology, national surveillance data, or real world enforcement challenges. The FDA has made clear that 70 is an opioid and is present in theratom plant itself. Focusing only on concentrated 70 products is a prioritization in the highest risk formulations, not a determination that is safe. National data shows thousands
003of exposures including severe outcomes such as seizures, respiratory depression, and death. Metragginine acts on the muopioid receptor and is metabolized into more potent compounds. These effects are inherent and cannot be addressed through labeling or retail controls. A 70 only approach is also difficult to enforce. It is naturally present increases during processing and there is no rapid field testing available. I also providing supported materials and visual summaries to avoid in advance. Those materials outline the policy distinctions and highlight the broader public health data that is not reflected in the resources currently presented. Public health policy should be based on the full scope of evidence, not a partial presentation of it. You are being asked to make a public health decision without the full scope of evidence in front of you. I urge you to pause and
004ensure that happens before moving forward. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Um, next is Holly. We'll unmute you. You'll have two minutes. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi, thank you. My name is Holly Trouville. I am from Massachusetts and I lost my 25 yearear-old son Tyrell from my tragedine toxicity on February 6, 2024. That was his sole cause of death and uh there was no opioids in his system and it was ruled solely an accident. Um so I'm just going to go straight and talk about Massachusetts cuz I'm from there and I've been fighting for it. the what you're looking to regulate. Only two other cities have regulated. There are 26 towns right now with a complete ban onratom. 26 compared to two that have regulated. Um you see the
005trajectory it's going in. I've sent you letters from board of health members, from chief of police, from a mayor. You should see that that's what Mass is going for. These people that have been giving you information aren't from the town. My son was born raised here. He lived all but three years of his life here. Pharmarmacology doesn't lie. You can't change it. And the majority of deaths are from people over 21. So to restrict for 21 and only under 21 is a moot point. You are doing a disservice and you are not helping the group that it is truly affecting. Um you should look at the last week where three states have banned and repealed by Utah which was the first to do the KCPA and Utah just repealed it a month ago. So you
006can see the trajectory where it's going. I have sent you the six recovery groups and the opioid task force in Massachusetts that have asked me to speak. Clearly it is a problem or people are seeing that is a problem in Massachusetts. And my hope is is that you follow the other 26 towns or at the very minimum don't vote tonight and really gather all the information and look at everything that was sent to you so you do have a bipartisan view because the goal is always to do the best interest of your constituents. I am a constituent of mass maybe not your town but I am and I have been my whole life and I just hope that you will reconsider and look at all the information prior to a decision. Thank you for your
007time. >> Thank you. Um, next I see I'm sorry, uh, Laura. >> Oh, there we go. Sorry. Every one of these are different how you unmute. So, hey, uh, my name is Laura Romney and I'm grateful that you could give us a few minutes to speak today. Um I I just encourage you to go forward with good regulation that will protect responsible consumers like myself. I've been taking for nine years for a severe um facial nerve disease called trigeminal neuralgia. Um very debilitating and it's been truly a miracle for me and I know so many others that um have used this uh for their uh you know for their health issues, for anxiety and for a harm reduction tool. And um just you know I know you've heard some things today about you know how
008dangerous and deadly it is but there's been no proof that there has been ever a death from a natural leafratom alone and we all know and the government knows that the big problem is 70 and these synthetics. In fact, just today there was a drug policy uh the national drug control strategy that was actually published and put out just today and in there if you read it it is very very clear that they are talking about 70. They keep saying 70 and synthetics that this is the problem. Um, I have sent you some resources that are very, very helpful. A compliance kit and compliance information, checklists and such that really does help you go into your community and find the bad actors and the problems that are there to be able to clean house, get
009rid of all of those and come up with a program where you can do a product registration or things like that. They'll allow the um natural leaf cratom products that fit fit the very tight restrictions. They're the only things that are allowed on your store shelves. So, um you know, with the opiate epidemic in full swing patients like myself, it is like almost impossible to get any pain relief. And to find something that doesn't leave you altered and that allows you to be able to function is just truly a miracle. So again, I I urge you to follow the science, to follow what the FDA said in their July 29th press conference where they specifically said, "We are not interested." >> I need to cut you off. I'm sorry. >> Oh, yeah. No, no, no.
010That's totally fine. I appreciate that. Appreciate your time. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Um, next, Kelly. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Hello. >> My name is Kelly McCann. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My oldest child and only son, Benjamin, died from acute my tragine intoxication on 912 2024. His autopsy revealed nothing unusual. Benjamin used to manage pain from seriatic arthritis, believing it was a safe natural alternative to prescription medication, as many of them do. and as harmless as coffee. This misconception cost him his life and left our family with indescribable heartbreak. Um, I sent you my email and I'm just there's there was an article that I sent you examining's growing controversy in the USA and Dr. Christopher McCertie commented in this and this
011was just a year before my son died and I would like to read this to you because I I want to make sure you hear this part. We really know little until the right studies are conducted in humans and animals. McCertie says, "No one knows how muchratom is safe and how much is too much. These answers may not come to light for a long time. We know nothing about interactions ofratom with other substances or prescription drugs," McCertie says. However, we can start to understand a bit from the poison control center calls, the FDA datab databases, and the autopsy reports. These provide information as to what combinations could be problematic and harmful. In many of these cases, we do not know what doses or combinations or timing of substance ingestion took place. That is why controlled
012clinical trials are so important. We really know little and from a pharmacist perspective combining with anything is a risk at this point including ingesting large amounts of particularly in extract or concentrated forms. No one today has the lengthy research that would help authorities oversee as a botanical or dietary supplement according to Mccertie. Soratom avoidance might prove the widest wisest strategy for supplement companies that do not want to incur negative legal attention. And I also sent you a video how it's coming in illegally >> to cut you off. Sorry. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Um next, Shannon. >> Hi. Yes. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi. Um my name is Shannon and I'm a lifelong resident of Massachusetts. I am here today to share my testimony regarding the vital role naturally
013cratom has played in my life and to urge you to consider regulation rather than a total ban. I'm a healthcare worker. In 2017, I suffered from chronic pain so severe that it led to countless ER and doctor's visits and many days out of work. Finding natural cratom has been a miracle for me and many others who seek natural pain relief. It is terrifying if natural is banned. many whom depend on this natural plant would be left without options or forced to turn to prescribe opioids. Natural leafratom is not an opioid. Synthetic 70 is and it's dangerous. It's addictive and should be totally banned. It is not the same as nature. However, naturratom is a god-given plant that provides pain relief without the risk associated with synthe synthetics or opioids like 70. Recently, Amherst and South
014Hadley passed their ordinances that regulate naturrum and they ban 70. Ford Island reverse the ban as of April 1st, 2026 after scientific research was done. Even the FDA announced at the July 29th, 2025 press conference that they are not interested in scheduling cradle, but rather banning synthetic 70oh. I ask that you please take my testimony into account and the many others who reached out. A total ban would be devastating to our state and our country and the many individuals who rely on this natural plant for the quality of life. Please consider regulating natural cradle and banning synthetic 70 to protect our access to natural relief. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Amy, >> sorry it looks like I can't start my video for some reason. I'm actually in the car. I left just left a
015high school baseball game. Um I actually was so Amy Turniff 21 Rossy Lane. I am a town resident and um I wasn't prepared to speak on cratom today because I just looked at the agenda because I knew that um there was going to be some other items I wanted to listen into. Um I'm going to ask you to press pause on this um for tonight and not to vote to enact this policy. I did have a chance to quickly read through it and I was very surprised to see it actually. I chair a regional um prevention coalition that includes all the 25 communities in Metro West Massachusetts and many of those communities either have already passed a ban on or are looking to pass a ban on this feels like it's out of line with
016the work that um many in the prevention community addiction prevention community are doing currently. So, I'm going to ask you again to press pause, not to move forward with this, and um I'd love to talk about this further with you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, Sunshine. >> Hello everybody. Sunshine Scotty, also known as Scott Francis, 17 Mory Drive, Ashlin, Massachusetts. And uh I want to second Amy's testimony. Can we please press pause on this? Uh because uh right now people are looking to uh ban this product, not regulate it. So it would be nice if we can um use some time to get together and to get in line with the prevention efforts that are being done in Massachusetts. And just want to people to consider like I'm hearing a couple people give testimony
017that it helps them. We're also hearing that people are dying, so we must do no harm and there are other alternatives like nonopioid pain relief medicine. So that's my testimony for tonight and uh thank you very much and also I can't let this go by without people writing in for S2999 to oppose nicotine free generation at the state level. Thank you. Recovery is real. >> Thank you. Um, and one more. Misty. >> Hi. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, recovery is real. My name is Misty Brown. I was an active addict for 11 years straight from 2008 to 2019. I was addicted to FDA approved pain pills, benzo, and muscle relaxers. Then I slid into cocaine use. I accidentally found whole leafratom in June of 2019. Is why I'm alive today. I didn't have to
018go the suboxone route, the methadone route. I didn't have to go to AA or NA or anything like that. I recovered at home with my kids. Today, I am proud to say that I am a recovered addict andratom. Holy cramm is a nonopioid alternative. Thank you for allowing me this time to speak. >> Thank you. Okay. All right. The uh next thing on our agenda, sorry, there is one more. Heidi, this will be our last one and then we're going to move on with our agenda. >> Hi, thank you so much. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. My name is Dr. Heidi Sakura. I'm a doctor of nursing practice, retired nurse practitioner, and healthcare executive. And um I just encourage you to regulate. Um if you uh banratom then all that is left
019is the um synthetic and semiynthetic uh substances and they the manufacturers of those really don't care about safety. But if you regulate uh per thermome consumer protection act uh regulations and follow that um kind of uh local ordinance then um the people who benefit from really have that access and many of those are people that do use it for harm reduction and it's very important because natural catratom leaf does not lead to the opioid type respiratory depression. So that's why it's such an important harm reduction tool as well as um a tool for people that uh need it for chronic pain and I disagree that there are alternatives. There are very few alternatives for severe chronic pain out there that are um safe and effective. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. >> Great.
020Thank you. All right. So we're going to move on with our agenda. Um the next thing on the agenda is the presentation by the Ashland High School Youth Prevention Council. Um and the youth tobacco survey results testing. >> Um hello youth health board. Hello the board of health of Ashland. My name is Magna Sherager and I am a sophomore at Ashlin High School. >> Hi everyone, I'm Biba Venet Ramen and I'm also a sophomore at Ashlin High School. We're here to present the nicotine-free generation report. This was a survey presented at Ashlin High School stu um and done by the student population by decisions at every turn during lunch and it regarded the use of nicotine and their experience with it. It was aimed at finding out why students chose to stay nicotine-free, why they
021may choose to take nicotine, if they would accept nicotine when offered, and their ideas on ways to address nicotine usage. The surveys questions were formulated by the students on the youth prevention council alongside the assistance of their adviserss. Um, so one of our key findings from this survey is the fact that 122 students or 71% choose to stay nicotine-free because of health risks associated with the use of nicotine. 101 of our students or 58.72% believe that the reason nicotine is common among youths like themselves is due to peer pressure. However, the runner up reason is that 22.09% thought that it was stress or anxiety. Our survey discovered that 142 students or 82.56% would decline the chance to use nicotine if it was offered to them. And lastly, our students thought that the most effective solution
022to youth's nicotine usage was more awareness, garnering 47.06% of students. However, a close runner up with 31.76% of students was the call for harder access to nicotine. So, the grade level breakdown. Some patterns we noticed across the data for question one. Why do students stay nicotine free? A majority of all grades selected because of health risks associated with nicotine use, but 19% of seniors selected because their friends do not use. For question two, why is nicotine common among youths? Again, the majority of all grades selected nicotine is common because of peer pressure, but freshman and seniors were an exception with 10% and 14.3% of them selecting due to social media or ads. As for question three, would you take nicotine if offered? A high majority of all grades responded no. They would not try it
023with seniors being the lowest percentage at 71.9%. And once again, the seniors had the highest percentage of the yes, I would try it response as well as the already tried it response, which with 9.5 and 14.3% respectively. Lastly, for question four, the most effective way to address nicotine use, the uh the highest percentage in all grades was between the low 40s and high 50s. Thought that raising awareness would prevent it. Interestingly, the freshmen were the grade with the highest percentage supporting harder access to nicotine with 38.6% and 33% of seniors called for harder access to nicotine. Please keep in mind this is just a brief overview of the data we collected. Um so with the data we collected we did have some limitations and in our survey students were given the choice of four answer
024options but a lot of students selected more than one option. Um for example the question why do students stay nicotine free a lot of students selected more than one option such as a peer pressure and b stress or anxiety. Um when this happened, we selected the first option that they chose. Um so in this prior example, we would have only counted A as a student's response, not B or both. In conclusion, the most important takeaways from this survey is that most students are aware of the health risks that come with nicotine usage and think that more awareness and harder access to nicotine are the most effective ways to address nicotine usage amongst youths like ourselves. It is also important to note that the reasons why the students believe youths take nicotine include peer pressure and
025stress or anxiety. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Do you have any questions? >> Hello, my name is Lava Ganapati Subraman. I am in ninth grade and a member of the youth prevention council. Uh I'm giving a testimony on what I've observed with the surveys that we've conducted plus uh with the stamp posters that we have hung up. Many of our students know the what we need what we need to do. >> Sorry. What we need most of the students know why what nicotine is what um what it does to your body as a young teenagers but most don't know what is the next step for change. So in my um my idea is to not only instead of spreading more prevention that you can also see is to go straight to the
026source. So going into um places where they sell nicotine and to spread awareness to the owners and uh spreading basically um showing that nicotine is bad and giving an idea. And when if youngsters show up to their stores or anyone that has siblings, elder um if they have adults, they should ask like do you have any younger like eyes that uh around you? Do you like try to prevent them like to spread the idea that this is not good and it should be uh more open-minded. So what our council has been thinking is to make small group sessions within our school or to create more uh to spread awareness by doing stickers or um making small gifts and like where people can hang up in their stores to say no to nicotine. Thank you. Um,
027any questions for them from the board? >> I have a couple questions. >> Mike, >> thank you very much. That was great. Um, I don't know who wants to answer these, but I have a few. Um uh was there any and if you said this I I apologize but was there any particular nicotine product that students were particularly um they felt more strongly about than others? >> You're on the spot. >> U many of the students that we've seen have been using vapes so or ecigarettes. >> Okay. So that was that would you consider that more uh overwhelmingly dangerous? >> Yes, it's very much um widely used in our school. >> Okay. >> If they have used it, >> are they using it in school? >> Yeah, some have been used in school but not
028that I've encountered but many of our some of our public spaces have been shut down due to the use of it. >> Okay. Um maybe you want to take this one too. Um were there any you did mention grades but just briefly were there any trends? >> So there were a couple so some seniors and unfortunately some of our freshman in 9th grade itself in my grade there has been a trend and um due to usually siblings and their environment itself where they can get access to it. So they have like older siblings where like they're 18 plus and they can get nicotine and so they have access to it or if they seen someone they've grew up watching they've used nicotine and they've they know them well personally. So like oh this person has
029been that I know has been using it so it should be fine if I use it. So that influence with elders and um people that you admire. Did that come out in the survey or was that like through conversations? How >> um some of our surveys like they get around it and some people even added their own box like people can get nicotine from around um their own like family members or other siblings. >> Yeah. Thanks. And and the last one and anybody can take this. Were there any results that you were surprised about? basically the fact that it was within our grade itself and um a lot of people which I think I find quite interesting is some people said within the seniors mostly that they wouldn't take any nicotine due to college so
030they see that that value um they see their like value more dignified and uh they would want to say stay away from it for like future careers thinking it would be impacted by that. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else have any questions? >> Thank you for coming. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Um so, um Jay, you're up next. Okay. Um, so we have theratum discussion and let me just start by saying I I talked to um a couple of times to our rep Jack Lewis about this and he, you know, kind of confirmed that this um house bill everything went down here. I had I had everything pulled up. Hang on one second. 4394 is still working its way through the mass legislature. Um he encouraged us to move ahead if we felt that regulation international
031was the right thing to do. Um he's fully supportive of that approach versus banning. Um he said to me that if uh things stall or die as they sometimes do in the mass legislature that he would then he would put in um submit or start the process for a new bill using probably much of the language that we drafted in ours. So, um so anyway, I just say that to say that he's he's supportive of that approach. Um I think maybe I'll just remind people about how how did we get to this point. So, back in November, we got an email from um public safety saying that um the police had interacted with somebody that um was having problems and that uh the issue of crowding came up that he had been using it or
032one of the products. Um I don't know I forget which store it was but there were it was found out later that there were two stores that was selling liquid um crowdom product combination type of thing. Uh feel free I think was the product. So anyway, we I went over to mobile, looked at what they had. It was believe it was behind the shelf or or whatever, but um then Raj had said later that somebody from the health department went over and talked to maybe it was both of the stores. Raj, correct me if I'm wrong. >> U Dr. J. So yes, I did personally visit Mobile and the other store, our food inspector, Tom, visited him. >> Okay. and and then they they I guess voluntarily took them off the shelves or something like
033that after a conversation. >> So we decided at that time that kind of happened after we decided to take up the issue was like okay so we know that a lot of communities in Massachusetts are beginning to ban this. Um you know I'm a scientist I've been following this product for since 2004 I studied it myself in the laboratory so I'm very familiar with it. Um, so I felt as though uh it was kind of my responsibility to educate the the board about at least what I knew about the science of the pharmarmacology of it. Um, and we then through those conversations um, and I think it was you, Maurice, that said, well, should we be proactive about this and think about regulating or doing something? Um, and that's kind of how we ended up
034where we are now. The way I see it, the state is moving forward. They have a number they have at least four bills. Um that house bill that you just mentioned uh is the one that's furthest ahead and that's a regulation bill that actually went in as a full ban and then it was um changed in committee to make it a regulation which is banning the 70 ODA um product or synthetic or concentrated or regardless of how you get to the 70 HDA if it was not the amount or from the original leaf if that would be banned. And then the leaf product which would be like actual leaves or ground leaves or powder that that would be regulated with a number of different regulations that were in line with the um consumer protection act.
035So, um, the draft that I put together was based on what's going through the state right now with just a few little tweaks in the language and something to address the issue of um, the food code that the concerns that Raj had. Um, and again, I have to bring it up here, but the um, so that's kind of where we we are now. There were a couple drafts um I sent around the latest draft and Laura has shared it with everybody and that's not to and it was a whole bunch of science that I sent out to everybody too. Um since this all came up back in November so hopefully everybody's kind of read through that. Um the way I understand it sits at the FDA right now is uh there's a little bit of
036history to this. So the FDA uh this came on the FDA's radar like maybe it was back in 2010 2012. Um and at that time they classified it as an unapproved new dietary ingredient and that hasn't changed since then. Um there's no medical use for it. You cannot according to the FDA add it to food. It cannot be used as a drug or even a dietary supplement. And my understanding is that this is crowded in any form. in 2016 um through the urging or because of the uh the um via the urging I should say of the FDA the um DEA scheduled it they proposed an emergency scheduling putting um proud or I think it was 7 hydroxy metrogyny and I'm not sure if it was the whole plant um under schedule one class one
037uh substance that was in August of 2016 there was an immed immediate reaction from the scientific community and people that use this product. Um, and they retracted that in September of 2016 and that's where it stands now. This is not um it's not regulated by the DEA and the FDA has not changed its stance. However, uh my read on this is that since July 2025, the FDA has made um made it clear in several communications and documents, including a dear colleague letter that went out to doctors, a warning letter to different um firms that were selling some of these concentrated 7 hydroxy products, and in a December 2012 press release that their concern really is not the um the raw raw leaf natural catum product. It's the concentrated or synthetic 7 hydroxy uh product. And
038so um that's kind of you know we never really talked about that but that's where things seem to stand with the FDA and uh and the DEA at this point. I would not be surprised if they begin to move on this schedule seven hydroxy as a schedule one substance um through DEA and you know not I don't know how they're going to do that without doing something to probably but that seems to be the direction they're moving in and that would be consistent with what's going on at the state level. So the way I see it now is you know we could either do nothing at all. I mean, let's face it, this this has not been a major issue in Ashland at all really. Um, we don't really know of any stores that are
039selling it or whatever, but just to be proactive. Um, and as they say, abundance of caution, I think it it makes sense to certainly get any potential future seven hydroxy products off the shelf and not even let them get there in the first place. Um, and um, you know, considering the millions, and it is millions of people that use the raw leaf product or >> Okay, I'm so sorry, but it sounds like Wacka's muted. There's no sound coming through. >> Okay. Yeah, we lost audio like a while ago. I'm sorry. I'll go back and watch the video. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, >> you missed all kinds of good stuff. I believe you. >> Uh so um it it so that's kind of the idea of this regulation is to prevent seven hydroxy products from getting
040on the shelf and to regulate um raw leafratom uh per according to the consu consumer protection act and all of that language. and I sent a little cheat sheet over to Laura to distribute um and it tells you what's in this um revised version of the uh draft version of the regulation. Um but it's consistent with what's going through the state and um so here we are. That's that's where we are. Questions for Jay from the board. So I think the the main question I have based on the the wording of the regulations uh and we've talked about this already is how you how you establish some of the basically the metrics that are in the regulation. So the levels of both uh well especially the uh seven hydroxy hydrogen which of course is um
041it's it's found in low uh is it found in low levels in the natural plant or is it found at no levels? Okay. So it's found in low levels u but it can basically be synthetically produced and adulterate um pattern products. So, uh, based on the research that I'm aware of, it it definitely makes sense to, uh, regulate those limits, but, um, my main concern is is that either somebody would misrepresent a product that they're selling, um, to a retailer. Not that the retailer themselves would would likely misrepresent it, though that's certainly a possibility. Um but uh since the regulation does specify, you know, that that these things are um the the acceptable levels, um the retailer in most cases is going to have to trust some sort of manufacturer as to what those levels
042are. Um and I'm just uh a little bit wary about how it would be that um you know we would be able to either help retailers or um you know generate our own information about what are the the the acceptable products that fall within the regulation versus those that that uh that are either misrepresented or uh fall outside of it. >> Yeah, I I I think that um you know, unless you have your own HLC and you're able to test different products, that's going to be hard. And so there's some trust that has to go into into that. But, you know, as we mentioned earlier, we can certainly ask for that if somebody's going to sell this in Ashland that you know, it's not a food product. It's not drinkable. Um, you know, you know,
043the bar would be set pretty high. It's, you know, proud leaf, proud powder, that's it. Um, and comes with a certificate of analysis from the manufacturer. And there are manufacturers, uh, vendors that do sell that do provide the certificate of analysis. Um, I'm sure that there are a bunch that do not. And if um a shop owner wanted to sell this and they weren't able to produce that, then they shouldn't be selling it. Um and and I know that's not in this regulation, but I don't see any reason why I think that's actually a good idea to have to require a certificate of analysis, have them keep it on site. Um you know, I mean, we we can do what we want with this. Um and that's not in the state regulation. It's not in
044the in the state proposal that house bill that we talked about, but I I think that that would actually be a good idea. >> Yeah, I think I think something that specifies um you know that the manufacturer should provide a certificate of analysis um and perhaps uh that the certificate of analysis should include the method by which that was determined. Yeah, those are >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Um Okay. >> Um and what I noticed um in the draft that we were given um there's um violation and penalties that reference section five and section 7. But under section 9 with enforcement, um, this current draft doesn't give us, especially like with section D doesn't give us really any enforcement action. Um it it states, you know, the Ashton Board of Health shall adopt standards for
045testing um for safety and compliance with the regulation consistent with any standards um issued by DPH. But there's we don't it with the way this is written, we don't have if we have a a retailer that violates that section, we don't really have any enforcement >> aside from the financial pen penalties, >> right? Or or the ability for us to have them stop selling >> um >> under section nine. So maybe I maybe we need to go to the tobacco law and see how that is worded there. I I thought a lot of this was modeled after that anyway. So if that's missed um then it should it should be addressed. >> So I can look into that. >> I I didn't catch that. >> Thank I sorry just when I was going through it
046I I did notice that. >> Okay. So let me see what So what I'm looking for what exactly? So, I I think we need if if we were going to move forward with this quote regulation, um we need some type of enforcement slash penalty um to address section 9 for violations. I will check that out. And you're talking about beyond the um financial penalties, right? >> Yes. And you know, and do we have the ability to revoke that retailer from selling? >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. So it looks like some homework needs to be done here. Anybody else? I mean I guess my question is like is that a licensing thing that we do with tobacco? We revoke the license >> Raj. >> Yeah. What? >> No. Yes. This won't fall under tobacco. So this
047is going to be stand on regulation, you know. So uh is not included. >> Is that the enforcement on the tobacco >> resulation? >> Right. >> Correct. So the sorry >> sorry you go. >> So the enforcement need to be from our department. You know that's another thing though I'm totally for what uh the board is going to adopt right. So but this regulation is going to fall on the on the department. You know it's it's going to be us enforcing. Now right now what we have is we have a grant for tobacco right? Uh we have a tobacco collaborative you know headed by Framingham. All our tobacco inspections compliance checks happen through that right but this is going to be stand alone regulation that whatever we write in it you know we have to
048enforce it. >> Can you just walk us through the procedure Raj for if there was a violation for tobacco let's just kind of uh you know imagine for a second that it's apples to apples here. what what would it look like with the tobacco violation? And I know I should probably know this because we've done the fines and all that, but on the ground um what are the steps and how does it work that will help help me in this job? >> So, Dr. J, you know, with with tobacco right now, right, we at least do two inspections a year. That's uh what's written in our contract, you know, for for the grant that have uh we have gotten, right? So, uh first is the compliance check, right? First is the educational visit that we
049do to all our 17 retailers, right? So we go and check if they you know they're following everything right. Same thing as you mentioned we check as the manufacturer's letters right that does say that hey what kind of tobacco it is you know if there is any flavoring or not flavoring like flavored tobacco is banned in the state right so so we for any tobacco product that's sold right we have those manufacturing letters letters from the manufacturer right that states what what exactly is in the product right so we check that >> so similar to what we're talking about so right >> coa yeah >> that that's that's the first visit that we And and can sorry to interrupt but th the mandatory the the twice a year visits are those written in the tobacco
050>> bylaw or is those just things that we do? I I am not sure right if it is written in the in the regulation itself right but like that's what we >> that's under the uh grant that we got that you know that that's from the state because the grant is from the state right I guess I guess it's $150,000 a year that we we get that right >> and then second visit is our compliance checks right under and there where we hire youths right that are that are young right that we hire them and that's what we we send them to to our vendors, right? So, and then then then the fines, right? So, that we have done, you know, and um and then we have one uh this year as well, right? So,
051uh that that's how it's followed. >> Um so, I that raises another question now. Um so, Jay, just getting back to section 9 um D. Um again the ashen board of health shall adopt standards for testing Raj what does that look like does that mean we need to send you for training for this do we have to purchase pro product to be able to do we >> like to my understanding chief that's a harder part you know so like that's a lot of stuff if you're going to get into that you know so >> well it doesn't mean you have to do it correct >> but there's you can adopt the standards like this is a product if it were tested needs to be done with, you know, mass spec or whatever the standard would
052be. And it sounds like if we were to do it this way, that would be a separate document or SOP. Um, I don't think that anybody would ever imagine that we would be the ones testing, >> right? >> You know, we would send it out >> per our standards. >> True. You know, then only concern I will have then is the resources, right? Like I mean our department is very tight with what we are doing right now right like I mean there are other some some other regulations that are kind of you know u other other committees are working on right they're trying to bring it to us you know if you ask me manpower wise right I'm very tight uh u with our inspections and all that right like where we are right now
053so that'll be just again I'm I'm for whatever board want to adopt right that that'll be like my concern with staffing and all that we were very limited. >> But it but it would be an issue anyway if you were to ban the whole thing. You would still have to you're you have to test because you how can you ban something that you can't test? So it would it would be the same issue, right? Whether you're regulating part of this or you're banning the whole thing. Um you know the only way it wouldn't be a problem is if you just ignore the the issue all together. >> No no so Dr. I'm not supporting like ignoring it, you know, but just my two cents, right? Like I mean, this is where we are and we'll
054we'll we'll get this done. It's not like, you know, but if we're going to be regulating, but I guess then we have to do like as we do with tobacco, right? That we do minimum number of inspections to make sure, right, that that our vendors are in compliance, right? So that'll be like my only thing, you know. So >> yeah. So let me let me offer a hypothetical that I think maybe gets to the point that Jay is trying to make. So let's say we went instead of with the regulation route, we just went with a ban route. And so we ban all catum products. So then retailers are not going to sell anything on their shelves that uses the wordratom at all. >> But they could sell a product that actually contains or the
055seven hydroxy synthetic variants, >> which is what why we're doing this. >> Right. Exactly. So, so in that case then someone comes to you or us and says you know someone that I know or I myself purchase this product from a retailer in Ashland and it made them very ill and it gave them symptoms similar to an overdose or something like that. What would we do to establish like so we know the product that they bought because they would we would get that information from the person who's making the complaint. Um what would we do then to uh establish whether or not this retailer knowingly or unknowingly was selling a product that violated the ban that we had on the product >> right on the only thing I will say on that right now if
056it is food related right that we can take action right away under the food court >> so nothing is allowed any native is not allowed in the food right now again coming back if it is a food product and somebody's trying to sell anything you know that then we can take action you know so if it's some some other form right again it's if it is a powder form right so or it's it's it's like in in the form of tablets right then it's a tough scenario right like for us to take action at least for what I know right now right like I mean if somebody like if now in a pharmacy they're selling it I probably they won't do it in a pharmacy right now if it is sold as a supple suppment
057or something, right? There is not too much at the health department level we can do. So, >> gotcha. >> But >> so, so, so, so if it's not a food product, then the health department can't go even if somebody's consuming it like you um cava, right? It's basically considered s the same uh from a from an FDA standpoint. And you can buy that at Whole Foods. Um, and it's probably in the medicine section or whatever as a supplement. Um, I mean, that's the kind of thing we're talking about. It's not necessarily a food. And in fact, the way this is written is it can't be sold as a food. So if um if we didn't have any of this at all or as Dave said, if you were to totally ban the whole thing, but
058things were on the shelf, they don't call themselves CRAM, they're not an obvious food product, you're saying that that and you knew that somebody got sick from it, that that there's no jurisdiction over that. Or did I misread what you said? >> No, you you're right, Dr. J. It's it's a little tough right now. It's it's I I want to bring this debate. It's like you know somebody selling drug out out of a store you know so this will be like you know at least what I know about my department jurisdiction right like you know some things that we regulate or we don't regulate you know so like if somebody is selling drugs outright right so there's nothing we can do right like at least from the health department right that we cannot you know
059>> right >> so I mean that that's the gray area and that's what all these you know folks you know who are trying to make some bucks right they do you know there's another product like you know called delta 8s you know something like that before before this products you know so that that was that we was dealing with >> now this these are like in no man's land right till till the things are getting figured out right >> right >> same same started with the wave you know first right and then the delta 8 came and then now the is almost every year right so by the time something happens or get regulated you know people people sell it so right >> right >> uh that that's like my view again, you know. So,
060but again, I I'm here all for it, you know, like you know, whatever board want to regulate, right? That's or you know. >> Yeah. And and I think like for me what what we're trying to do is get out in front of something, get something that every most reasonable people agree is not good. Um to prevent it from getting on the shelves. um protect people that want to use the other what's the real um and um and then in the meantime we're hoping and seeing that the state is kind of moving forward and I know that Jack Lewis is on this and so you know the idea is that we would get some guidance from the state at some point so you know instead of waiting for that we've got this I do think we
061can certainly address the testing thing because theory just talking about an SOP. I totally get it. This is separate from tobacco. So, the health department would be doing independent um checks and um so I you know I I can't speak for you. I I don't think it would be very labor intensive. >> Uh only thing is right now so it it if people will be selling you know we have around 80 food permits you know right. So >> uh say that that's the number of inspections we're talking right like I mean again my retails might might be a lot of like 30 35 retailers right so >> uh somewhere around that again I'm >> that's why I said I can't speak for you >> right so Dr. J I mean again we are here you
062know we went till here I mean we'll handle that you know it's not like a thing we won't be able to do but like that testing part I'm a little uh you know maybe worried or concerned given the given the financials even we have right my >> my budget right if we have to run out from my budget here right >> the 92% of our budget is salaries >> so we we're talking about everything else >> that we have 8 8% of the monies that we get allotted you know to run the department. >> Yeah. >> So if we have to take anything else at this moment >> I guess you know so that's like tough tough uh situation. >> Yeah I I get it and I can't think of a scenario where you have
063to send something out for testing. So if we required a certificate of analysis you've got that if there was some reason to believe that um that that wasn't valid and we felt or somebody god forbid got sick or something um that we needed to send something out for testing. Yeah, that would be a cost, but to Dave's point that if we were to do nothing at all, we would still be in that same situation. Um certainly if somebody got sick, I mean, you wouldn't just go around grabbing products and testing if not but I'm just saying it would be to me it would there's the same risk of that. >> Absolutely. >> If we did nothing. >> So, um but what I'll do is I I'll I'll go and I'll d method. I'll see what
064people are using um you know to kind of address that section 9 subsection 4 and um was there was there something except there was something else I was going to uh look into? Oh, just certificate of analysis. >> I I just sorry J I just have one more thing going. >> So, um I if we were going to go through with this draft regulation under the retailer, >> can can we add that and I I just didn't see it. I may have missed it, but can we put that it would need to like be behind the counter? >> Yes. >> Um, is that in there? I just Maybe I missed it. >> Yeah. >> Only you could only get to with the help of it. >> Right. I I just didn't see where it was.
065>> It's under the child resistance. Oh, maybe that um Oh, I see it here. It's um section seven. It looks like three, but it says um all retail sales of products must be face tof face between the seller and the buyer and occur at the retail location. But but it still doesn't say >> the next one I think gets the point that you're trying no person >> behind a behind a counter >> behind the counter. >> Yeah. All right. There we go. Okay. Yeah. So it's under section seven. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I I tried to make it as stringent as possible. And even um if you look at the the state um house bill, I I I there was something and I I forget exactly what it was, but but it seemed to me
066that you could even with all the regulation that that there was sort of a gray area where you could still actually sell a concentrated um seven hydroxy product. Now, I could be wrong and I don't want to speak out of term, but it seemed that way to me. And um we put something in there that that has a very specific limit for how much like 2% or I think it was one milligram >> 2% and one mill. >> Yeah. So two the percent thing is never really going to help you because that always depends on what the starting point is. >> Right. So, but if you give an actual amount, you can't have more than this in a uh in a serving that that basically precludes um any possibility of concentrating it um or or
067having a concentrated synthetic or something like that. So, roundabout say way of saying I I think it's pretty protective against these what we're going to call the adulterated products. So, so the bar is pretty high. It would have to be natural product like the leaf in all this packaging that we're talking about behind the counter. Now, we're saying with the certificate of analysis, um, and if people want to sell that, then they would have to figure out how to how to find a vendor that would provide that. So, what are our next steps then? Well, where do we >> I can I can go through these and um make these changes and we can I can give it back to Laura and send it out and then we can >> talk about it and see
068what you guys think and >> Yeah. So, when you get that back to Laura and maybe we can have Laura put the draft on the website for the public to see. >> Yep. >> Right. And Chifa, do you want to uh adopt it or you want to uh run it to the legal council before you take the vote? >> We we would definitely need legal because it's a regulation, >> right? Is it before the vote you want to do it? >> Um that's a good question. Um we probably should have legal. >> Yeah, that we should probably have legal legal review it. >> So uh why don't uh when Dr. just uh uh send it to us. We'll probably give a another week for the board to review and have any comments and then we'll
069will our Scott legal consult. >> Yeah, they they should see the the final. So, okay. >> Okay, sounds good. Great. Thank you everyone. Okay. Um so, Raj, you're next. Um next thing on Oh, sorry. Go ahead. >> Yep. Yep. Um the Mary Mortonson, it's the 9th annual public health award. um discussion for possible nominees. Um are you going to take this Raj? >> Yes sir. >> So chief uh we had three nominations so far you know and I I owe the board uh uh some information uh two two of the nomination came from the town manager's office u Mr. Herbert and then I had one uh nomination that came from uh u Mr. Rob Sanjerine. Um he have uh nominated Dieago Low uh who is then executive director of the Metro West workers solidary network
070and CASSA is uh is a food distribution uh network you know. So but uh this organization is not uh not from Ashland. So the board want to review that email, right? And then other two nominations, we have Emmy Tunliff uh that I owe uh the board some uh information and then Uchi code uh she's our uh food resource coordinator uh that work out of Ashland is a resident of Ashland. So um first two candidates I I owe both some information you know and I'll have it you know and the third one there is an email this afternoon late afternoon that I've forwarded to the board you know so this is what we have so far three nominations you know >> yes so Raj if you could get that to the board um and then um
071we could make a decision at our next meeting >> and then present the award the following meeting. Would that make sense to everyone? >> And the and the person nominating would be here for the award presentation. >> Yes. >> That would be great. >> Right. >> The nominator as well as >> the nominator. Yes. >> Great. Perfect. All right. Uh Raj, you're up next for the health director's report. >> Thank you, Chief. So, uh first is the Boston Marathon recap. So uh first I appreciate uh uh the board members attending. I know Mr. Kingsman who was there right u Barbara was there. I was unfortunately not able to attend you know was traveling. So I'm going to give this to Ann our public health nurse who is here with with us on Zoom you know
072to give the board update on the marathon please. >> Okay. Hi everyone. Good evening. Um the marathon went off incredibly well again this year. Um, Lieutenant Briggs from the Ashland PD does a masterful job coordinating the slew of personnel and logistics. The Ashland PD officers, fire department, EMS, and uh, special shout out to the Ashlin DPW. They all worked so hard to ensure that the day was safe for for both the runners and the spectators. I would say the crowds were a little thinner this year, I think, because of the weather. Um, at least in the stretch near the middle school. Um, we did not have any injuries. We did not have any issues with crowd. We had one or two people bike in from side streets and the police officers told them they couldn't
073have their bikes on the course and they left without without issue. We had u four volunteers from the Red Cross to assist along with as Raj said, Barbara and David. And um, you know, again, a very smooth uh course for everyone. Ashland seems to be the location to throw your gloves and hats off to the side because it was so cold in the morning that folks were warmed up by then. So, when I say the DPW did a great job, I mean they had a they could have opened a store with the gloves that were thrown to the sides of the road. Um, of course, reopening happened generally between 1:45 2:00. Um, and again, it's just an incredible logistic uh feat to pull this all off in the way that they do. and all of
074the Ashlin departments who participated did an excellent job. >> Uh thank you and would have any questions for an okay thank you and I appreciate it. >> Happy to. >> Thank you. Uh then if we have green Ashland uh that was me second uh this Saturday I was there you know I saw Mr. Kingsman come for a minute. Uh then I would also have Dr. Ron uh he said hi to all the board members you know so he was with me for a few hours there you know so it was good you know hopefully we we see some work done you know uh farmers market 2026 update farmers market will be starting June 6 uh we have most of the vendors Laura right uh >> we're missing four uh out of the list that was
075provided by Mr. Mitchell, we're working with him, you know, to get uh all all of our vendors uh certified and permitted. Um lot of food trucks this year, you know, we we have inspected, I guess, 10 or 11 so far and inspect and permitted them. I guess there are six in the process that are trying uh to get licensed by us. U lot of food trucks during even during the winter. It's mainly because of the tap room we have next door now, you know. So uh I guess a good increase you know from the previous years right with the uh what we have with our food trucks. Uh then we have the MRC nurse anan is doing the third training uh June 10th. U this is for our MRC volunteers. Uh we we're doing the
076stop the bleed training. Uh the community baby shower we have scheduled it for right now for 30th. We do have a maternal and child grant through through our shared services that uh that we have funds uh that we'll be buying stuff for the you know uh expecting moms you know so that's scheduled uh for right now and on June 30th it's going to be right out from the slackboard room or it might be corner spot as well depending on the weather you know so this is what we are planning so far with our housing case uh 20 John drive number to uh 22 sorry uh so there is a weekly pest control going on uh for for this unit and that joining units uh the management have been providing me the weekly pest controls I
077definitely have seen the improvement on those uh I was out there Thursday last right uh to do a check on their dumpster definitely seen some improvements there uh the with 21 Main 204. You know, this is just sitting there. We didn't have no update both from the occupant or the or the owners. So, we probably going to take this off from here. 99 Warren uh road. This this property we've been dealing with uh for some quite quite some time. So, there's some random trash uh on the property in the front, you know, and neighbor is concerned about uh rodents and all that. So I did see uh trash all the time there you know some construction material I didn't see any rodent activity but we have uh issued the order to correct letter to the
078property owner to to comply you know so I will keep the board posted you know with our rodent complaints only one update uh only one active we have is uh the corner of Brooks and Chestnut uh was there this morning uh just to get an update they did have uh they did remove the dumpster from that location. You know, hopefully uh the activity dies down, you know, uh for the rodents with the disease investigation. Uh we did pick up one case of compilactor uh that we have closed uh few TB cases uh that we are uh following up. And then one more update I want to give and you know this is this is for the community as well. We we did had a person uh last week tested positive at one of our CVS
079clinics here, right? That was sent to the department, you know, uh that I just want to we Laura did speak to CVS also, you know, to to that we don't have resources here, you know, that the gentleman was told that we'll we'll do an X-ray here, you know, or chest X-ray. That was that was not a good information. So if somebody need information they can call us. You know I did see that gentleman here three times you know after being TB positive there was some u uh stuff was little you know not not not very happy or with that you know but if you have any anything like that diagnosis like that please give us a call so we can provide resources you know u I guess that's all and I'm open for any questions
080for the board you know. >> Anybody have any questions for Raj? >> No. Okay. All right. So, the next thing on our agenda is the consent agenda, which includes the review and approve the fiscal year 2026 year-to- date budget reports and the meeting minutes from April 7th. Do I have a motion? >> I motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Perfect. All in favor? I. >> That's approved. Okay. Uh, anybody have any future agenda items they would like on our next agenda? I think we've already discussed. >> Yes. Um so our next meeting is tenatively scheduled for May 19th. Um depending on what we have if there's enough for the agenda. I believe our plan for our next meeting will be a full in-person meeting. So we will not have anything hybrid is
081the plan. Um, so anybody that would want to make public comment at our next meeting would have to be in person. >> Anybody trying to think of pretty sure I will be, but I will check when I get home. Just >> Raj will usually call me and if we don't have a lot for an agenda, we'll push it off for the following meeting >> if there's not enough to hold a meeting. >> Okay. All right, I'll be in touch if you >> Thank you. Um, anybody have any new business? >> I will not be able to attend them. >> Okay. So, that's two. So, sorry, potentially two people. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, we would not have a quorum. So, Raj Raj, you and I will just connect over the next week or so. >>
082Sure, Chief. Great. >> Let me just know if I see a calendar. I might as well look at mine at the same time. >> Yeah, that's going to be tight. >> 19 is election day, so we can't even have a meeting. Sorry about that. >> Oh, so we can't even do it on the 19th, the election day. >> It's election day, >> so we can't do it anyway. >> So, would we put it off to the June 2nd? >> Yes, June 2nd will be our All right. So, our next meeting, in-person meeting, will be June 2nd >> at 6 PM. >> And chief, if we need anything before >> Yes, we can always we can always call an emergency meeting if we need to have anything approved. Okay, >> great. >> Thank you. >> I
083will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Uh motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> All in favor? Great. Thank you everybody. >> Thank you.