Templeton Health Board Keeps Leaders, Flags Kratom Ban
Templeton's Board of Health reorganized without change and flagged a new statewide kratom ban. Chair Jane Crocker and Vice Chair Earl Baxter were kept in place on a unanimous vote, with Health Agent Laurie Wiita continuing clerk duties.
Board of Health · Meeting of October 6, 2026
Templeton's Board of Health reorganized without change and flagged a new statewide kratom ban. Chair Jane Crocker and Vice Chair Earl Baxter were kept in place on a unanimous vote, with Health Agent Laurie Wiita continuing clerk duties. Wiita reported the substance kratom, a plant-based opioid-mimicking product, was recently classified as a Schedule I controlled substance after the governor signed a restricting bill, prompting her office to notify all local tobacco and nicotine retailers to pull it from shelves.
She said 9.1 percent of regional emergency room visits have been tied to respiratory illness including RSV, COVID-19 and flu, calling it a "low incidence rate" per state data. A public flu clinic is planned for October 20 or 21 at the middle school, and Worcester County logged 106 tick-related ER visits this year, Wiita said, cautioning that "the deer tick does" transmit Lyme disease while the dog tick does not.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 1,601 words
Source: the Board of Health meeting of October 6, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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