Suffolk Closeup: Serious new narcotic stalking the county

Kratom. 

As the Mayo Clinic describes it: “Kratom is a supplement that is sold as an energy booster, mood lifter, pain reliever and remedy for the symptoms of quitting opioids, called withdrawal. But the truth about kratom is not so simple. And there are safety problems linked to its use.”

The article continues: “Kratom is an herbal extract that comes from the trees of an evergreen tree called Mitragyna speciosa. The tree grows in Southeast Asia.” However, “some kratom sellers add more of the active ingredient than kratom naturally has …. Depending on the amount of active ingredient in the product … taking kratom can be harmful … The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned people not to use kratom because of possible harm it can cause.”

A key aspect of the kratom issue is something called 7-OH. It makes up a tiny portion of the kratom leaf — less than 1% — but is being synthesized to a strength of many times its potency. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a report online in July titled: “Preventing The Next Wave of the Opioid Epidemic: What You Need to Know About 7-OH.” It states: “7-OH is Engineered to be Addictive. It is a Potent Opioid by Design … This dangerous opioid is sitting on store shelves, making gas stations and convenience stores risky places where kids can purchase these drugs as easily as buying candy,” says the report.

It continues: “‘Enhanced’ or ‘spiked’ kratom products may appear to be natural leaf, but actually contain as much as 500% more 7-OH than would be expected naturally.”

It adds: “7-OH is 13x more potent than morphine.”

Suffolk County government has been a leader in taking on kratom. In 2016, the Suffolk County Legislature passed a measure, authored by Legislator Steve Stern of Dix Hills, and signed into law by the county executive, banning the sale of kratom in Suffolk to anyone under 21.

It declared: “This legislature … finds and determines that kratom affects the brain like an opiate and can be highly addictive … This legislature also finds that long-term use of kratom has significant negative health effects … Withdrawal symptoms are very similar to opiate withdrawal, including severe depression, anxiety, psychosis … this legislature further finds that overdoses of kratom are also dangerous, causing hallucinations, delusions, listlessness, tremors, aggression…”

Penalties for those who “sell, offer for sale or otherwise distribute kratom in the County of Suffolk to any person under the age of 21,” says the law, “shall be … punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to one year’s imprisonment.”

In an interview last week, Stern, now a member of the New York State Assembly, said he’s pleased that this year the State Legislature passed a measure expanding through the state the Suffolk ban on the sale of kratom to those under 21. The bill is now on the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). Also passed this year was a State measure requiring a warning label on kratom products.

The bill concerning sales is sponsored by Assemblymember John T. McDonald III of Cohoes and Senator Patricia Fahy of Albany. In a statement, they said kratom “has surged in popularity in recent years, particularly among adolescents and young adults … In higher doses, the substance mimics opioids …”

The “legislation was introduced and shepherded through the legislative process,” it says, “in memory” of Nick Scribner, 27, from the upstate village of Ballston Spa, who in 2024 “died of respiratory arrest attributed to kratom intoxication. His mother, Cari Scribner, has since become a vocal advocate for reform, warning that kratom’s opioid-like effects are not widely known, under-researched, and that the substance is sold in local convenience stores or vape shops with little or no oversight.”

Assemblymember McDonald called the bill “a first step as New York State continues to consider how kratom will be regulated in the future.”

Senator Fahy said: “We’ve seen kratom use rise in our high schools as it’s sold unregulated ….”

The statement also noted that “while several local jurisdictions, including Suffolk County, have implemented their own bans or restrictions, kratom has remained widely available statewide.”

The warning label bill, sponsored by Phil Steck of Schenectady in the Assembly and Fahy in the Senate, directs that on “each package of any kratom product sold or delivered by a manufacturer within the state … shall be printed a warning of such product’s lack of federal Food and Drug Administration approval and such product’s known side effects” that “may include nausea, agitation, hallucinations, difficulty breathing, liver damage, and death.”

Seven states have enacted bans on kratom. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Nations where it’s illegal include Australia, Denmark, Finland, Israel and Japan.

Assemblymember Stern said New York may consider “an outright ban going forward.” 

I asked Google: “Where to buy kratom in Suffolk County, N.Y.?” Several pages came back under the heading, “Here’s a quick guide to some reliable spots …” 

Stern said the sale of kratom is now “ubiquitous.” 

In 2016 the New York Times published an expose headlined “Kratom, an Addict’s Alternative, Is Found to be Addictive Itself.” It began with a 23-year-old “Brooklyn native” who said: “It’s preying on the weak and the broken. It’s a mind-altering substance, so people like me … they think just because it’s legal, it’s fine.”