North Dakota Republican lawmakers are set to discuss a possible special session to ban the substance kratom and address a fundraising shortfall of the state Military Gallery, which has paused construction.
Senate Republicans on Wednesday received a videoconference invitation for a Sunday meeting from Senate Majority David Hogue, R-Minot, in which he said he had met with Gov. Kelly Armstrong and some of his staff members on Monday.
“The Governor is intent on calling us into a special session to consider banning the sale, possession, and distribution of Kratom,” Hogue wrote in an invitation shared with the Monitor, adding, “We will also be addressing the ND Military Museum as well. As you know, the project has a funding challenge and there appears no way to address it short of legislative action.”
Hogue confirmed the Military Gallery funding was a topic for a potential special session, but would not comment further Wednesday.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Hogue said, adding he’d have more to say on Monday.
Armstrong spokesperson Mike Nowatzki said Wednesday the office did not have a statement on a potential special session.
Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, said the Republican caucus received word of a potential special session Wednesday morning in a calendar invite to discuss it during a virtual meeting on Sunday.
Sen. Scott Meyer, R-Grand Forks, confirmed he received the caucus meeting invitation to discuss “the governor calling us back in regards to kratom and to the Military Gallery.” He planned to call others to “get a little bit better pulse” on the plans, and said he’d prefer a “get in, get out” approach to a special session.
Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, also confirmed the weekend caucus meeting to plan the special session and said she hoped the topics would remain narrow to kratom and the Military Gallery funding.
Political caucus meetings are open to the media if held at the Capitol, but are otherwise typically closed.
Dever said the date for an early September special session is still fluid. A special session takes a minimum of three days, Legislative Council has said.
Construction on the Military Gallery paused earlier this month due to a lack of sufficient fundraising from private donors, the State Historical Society of North Dakota said. The pause was set through at least July 31 or until the funding is resolved.
Half of the $78 million project is supposed to come from private fundraising, which had garnered $800,000 in donations and $4.1 million in pledges at the time of the pause. The gallery must clinch one-third of its fundraising goal, or nearly $12.8 million in pledges, before it can use $15 million the Legislature approved for the project.
Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said earlier this month that the legislation approved last year does not include language authorizing the Historical Society to borrow additional money. Bekkedahl, R-Williston, said at the time the only way to address that would be during a legislative session.
Dever said he believes the public is still supportive of building the Military Gallery even though the fundraising doesn’t appear to show it.
Kratom legislation
State lawmakers around the country have taken steps to regulate or ban kratom and similar substances.
Some people consider kratom an energy booster, like caffeine, or use it to manage pain. Kratom also has been used to wean people off drugs such as fentanyl and heroin with some people reporting withdrawal symptoms.
In the 2025 legislative session, North Dakota considered banning or regulating kratom, eventually passing a bill that called for a study on the uses and regulation of kratom. Legislative leaders, however, did not select the topic for an interim study.
The Legislature heard testimony from both proponents of kratom and those who consider it dangerous.
Kratom leaves contain two major psychoactive ingredients — mitragynine and 7-hydroxymytragynine, which also is known as 7-OH.
On July 1, the DEA announced it planned to temporarily place 7-OH and three related substances as Schedule 1 drugs. Such drugs have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has said.
North Dakota lawmakers met in a three-day special session in January, primarily related to Rural Health Transformation Program funding.
North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach contributed to this story.
North Dakota Monitor reporter Michael Achterling can be reached at machterling@northdakotamonitor.com.
North Dakota Monitor reporter Jack Dura can be reached at jdura@northdakotamonitor.com.
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