Plain Talk: 'I don't know how the Attorney General is going to do it'

MINOT — The special session is over. It was called to address a growing crisis with kratom, and lawmakers gave North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong most of what he wanted. They passed a total ban for synthetic kratom, and some big new regulations for the natural variety.

But Sen. Janne Myrdal, who, like Armstrong, wanted a total ban on all kratom products, says the regulatory part of it may be unworkable. It will essentially require Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office to spin up a new regulatory and testing program for a product that is produced and packaged outside of North Dakota's borders and usually outside of our national borders.

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"I don't know how the attorney general is going to do it," she said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I don't know if it's possible."

Myrdal, R-Edinburg, said she'll be expecting another run at totally banning kratom products, at the very least until federal authorities put in place some rules and oversight for the products, during the upcoming regular session.

Also on this episode, Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, expressed some dismay with the Legislature's bailout of an embattled military museum, which has been stalled on the Capitol grounds.

"My overall frustration with the project is now we're looking at approximately $80 million of public dollars for this project," he said. "Eighty million is a lot of money, especially at a time when agencies are being asked — some of the Department of Health and Human Services to submit 10% reductions to the upcoming budget proposal. There's been talk about flat education funding.

"When I think of our work in the Legislature, I really like to focus our public spending on things that are serving the public," he continued.

Cleary said he felt like the museum became a "bait and switch." The Legislature probably wouldn't have authorized an $80 million project if they knew the taxpayers would be footing the bill for all of it, but now they're in the position of either keeping the money flowing or paying a big bill to close it down.

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