S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9114
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
September 26, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the
sale of food or beverages containing kratom and 7-hydroxymitragynine
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
398-g to read as follows:
§ 398-G. KRATOM AND 7-HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE PACKAGE LABELING. 1. FOR THE
PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION:
(A) "KRATOM" MEANS BOTH MITRAGYNA SPECIOSA, A TREE NATIVE TO SOUTHEAST
ASIA, AND THE PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM ITS LEAVES THAT ARE MARKETED AS
HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS; AND
(B) 7-HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE MEANS A PSYCHOACTIVE COMPOUND THAT OCCURS
NATURALLY IN THE KRATOM PLANT.
2. ON OR AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN, NO PERSON OR
ENTITY SHALL SELL OR OFFER FOR SALE OR MANUFACTURE OR DELIVER IN THIS
STATE ANY FOOD OR BEVERAGE PRODUCT CONTAINING 7-HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE,
KRATOM OR ANY DERIVATIVE THEREOF.
3. ANY PERSON OR ENTITY IN VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE SUBJECT
TO A CIVIL PENALTY OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A FIRST
VIOLATION AND NOT MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A SECOND OR SUBSE-
QUENT VIOLATION.
§ 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13687-02-5
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I urge lawmakers to amend A9114 rather than pass it as written. While I support banning 7-hydroxymitragynine, a dangerous and concentrated compound, a total ban on kratom would harm responsible adults and small businesses that sell safe, lab-tested products. Kratom in its natural form is not the problem—unregulated and adulterated products are.
Several states have adopted “Kratom Consumer Protection Acts” that ban synthetic derivatives, require product testing, and prevent underage sales. New York should follow that model instead of an outright ban. A balanced approach protects public health while preserving consumer choice and small-business livelihoods.
Please consider chronic pain patients. We are losing access to quality pain management due to the stronghold opioid restrictions have on our providers. Chronic pain patients are already suffering because of addicts. Chronic pain patients are being forced to seek alternatives to manage their pain. If you ban Kratom or 7-hydroxymitragynine, you will personally be responsible for an increase in not only addiction rates but suicide as well. When someone has long term debilitating pain due to disease or injury, it has a profound effect on their daily quality of life. For me personally, I have Lupus, Mixed connective tissue disease, Fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis related to Mastocytosis, small fiber neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction as well as chronic back pain and long term post concussion syndrome from a motorcycle accident. My pain was being managed until the clinic I went to went under a "new administration". I was prescribed 30mg morphine extended release 2 times a day. All of a sudden because of new administration I supposedly could no longer be on an extended release opioid, also I could only be on 2 pain pills a day. Oh and the dose I was on needed to be tapered because, even though it had been managing my pain well for years, now the dose was too high. By taper they meant putting me on hydrocodone immediate release and cutting the dose by 50%, all at once. I would like to see one of you people, who create these laws, go through what I have been through. I have been going to the same pain clinic for about 14 years. Tell me, what is humane about any of this? If you pass this bill and take away the one thing that is making it possible for me to get out of bed and function as a somewhat human being, well then you might as well come to my funeral. I have thought long and hard about writing on here because of the stigma surrounding pain management and opioid medication but the truth is, the government and big pharma are slowly killing us chronic pain patients off. Try living a day in my body. Just one day, and then decide on this bill. Kratom allows me to function. Please really think about this. We have been punished and diminished enough. Also, please tell me when will chronic pain patients matter just as much as drug addicts? Thank you!
"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"
Please separate 7-hydroxymitragynine from regular kratom drinks/products in this bill. They are two vastly different products even though some unethical companies produce and sell both.
7-hydroxymitragynine is a powerful derivative of the kratom plant that probably doesn't have any therapeutic application outside the possibility of an FDA studied and regulated medical use. It should and hopefully will be banned soon on a Federal level.
Regular kratom on the other hand is a plant significantly less innocuous than cannabis or alcohol. It's brewed into a tea or can be made into seltzer which gives the consumer a mild sensation that can bring pain relief and relaxation. The effects experienced by the consumer are less potent than coffee.
Kratom tea helped me through difficult pain and migraines stemming from an accident that left me with multiple skull fractures, 4 metal plates and 18 screws in my face. Since then it has helped me recover from other surgeries without the use or prescription opiates. It also helped my elderly father avoid surgery for sciatica while he was being treated in physical therapy and a chiropractor.
I know dozens of other people who have benefitted from kratom tea and kratom based seltzers or canned drinks. Linking Kratom based beverages and 7-hydroxymitragynine products is a major disservice to the New Yorkers. We want 7-hydroxymitragynine banned but this bill can be described as "throwing the baby out with the bathwater."