New York Passes Kratom Laws to Enhance Age Restrictions, Ban Synthetic Derivatives
NEW YORK PASSES KRATOM LAWS TO ENHANCE AGE RESTRICTIONS, BAN SYNTHETIC DERIVATIVES
New York has enforced the requirement of age verification for all kratom purchases, restricting purchases to only consumers over 21. Now, both physical stores and online kratom vendors must require an ID before checking out.
Kratom discussions across the country have evolved into a back-and-forth about the best ways to protect customers and support regulated, natural kratom products in the face of opportunistic manufacturers looking to take advantage of kratom’s popularity.
There is no better example of the complexities of the ‘kratom question’ than the current situation unfolding in the state of New York.
New York started the year by passing a law to strengthen the age requirements to purchase kratom, and eventually sent a synthetic kratom ban to the governor’s desk. As the state legislature took on kratom regulations with a precise approach, other jurisdictions in the state attempted to revert to a heavy-handed approach that developments in the industry have dispelled. As advocates now wait on the fate of the proposed law, the eventual outcome in New York illustrates the complexity of the best approach to regulating kratom.
The first step taken by lawmakers in New York came back in February, when a bill was passed to strengthen age restrictions and ID laws surrounding the purchase of kratom products. Those laws specifically dictate the type of signage and lettering that needs to be included in both in-person and online sales of kratom products.
That law, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Feb. 13, will require all businesses to adhere to new rules on age verification and includes stipulations on how businesses must represent age requirements and verify identification. Those same rules apply to all businesses that sell kratom products to customers in New York.
In the months that followed the new rules on age verification, other lawmakers in the state took drastically different approaches to regulating kratom.
First to act was Nassau County, whose local legislature passed a ban on all forms of kratom in March based on outdated federal guidance and information gleaned from internet searches instead of the research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Suffolk County was also set to consider a similar ban in April, but pushed that vote back after backlash from advocates.
John Shinholser has traveled the country speaking to local lawmakers about his first-hand knowledge of kratom and the complexities of the industry, and appealed to lawmakers in Suffolk County to follow the science and the guidance of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in targeting synthetic products instead of natural leaf kratom.
"There are a lot of dangerous chemical products that say they’re kratom, and there are a lot of dangerous 7-OH products that are an opiate that kill people, and they shouldn't be on the marketplace,” Shinholser said.
Shinholser’s testimony comes after the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have recently refined guidelines around kratom to focus on the threat posed by 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), which is an alkaloid that occurs in trace amounts in natural kratom leaf. Due to those changes in policy pertaining to 7-OH, both Suffolk County and the New York State Senate revisited the kratom question in the months that followed.
A bill introduced in the state Senate gained traction in May and eventually passed by a vote of 61-0. After an amended version was supported at the committee level in the New York State Assembly, the substitute bill was passed on the final day of the legislative session by a vote of 132-0.
Rather than target all forms of kratom, the bill that emerged will set limits on the amount of 7-OH allowed in products sold as kratom. Per the text of the bill, the banned products are defined as any “finished good” that contains 7-OH at a level greater than 2 percent of the total alkaloids, or 1 milligram per serving. The law would not only prohibit the sale of such products, but also include civil penalties for businesses that knowingly violate the established parameters.
Sen. Christopher Ryan introduced the bill in the state Senate and cited federal research and guidance from federal agencies in his news release supporting the proposed law.
"As these products become increasingly available in smoke shops, convenience stores, and online marketplaces, we have a responsibility to act before they create another public health crisis," Ryan said.
Assemblymember Phil Steck sponsored the measure in the lower chamber and highlighted the dangers associated with synthetic kratom products in his pitch to pass the bill.
“As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, I have seen firsthand the devastating impact that addiction can have on individuals, families, and communities,” said Assemblymember Steck. “The growing popularity of products containing high levels of 7-OH, coupled with the lack of regulation surrounding them, presents a serious threat to public health.”
The actions taken by the New York legislature trickled down to Suffolk County, which eventually replaced its proposed ban with a bill to restrict the sale of synthetic forms of kratom. Local lawmakers in Suffolk County acknowledged that kratom has “gotten sort of a bum rap” in being lumped in with dangerous, synthetic derivatives of the plant.
Those sentiments were matched by Ryan, who made it clear that his bill was aimed at creating balance in how the law differentiates between natural leaf kratom products and products singled out by the FDA and DEA as risks to public health.
"These highly concentrated 7-OH products are being marketed with little oversight despite their powerful opioid-like effects and significant addiction concerns,” Ryan said. “This legislation takes a commonsense approach to protecting consumers, especially young people, from dangerous and unregulated substances while ensuring that New York remains proactive in addressing emerging health threats."
