Suffolk County is moving against a substance that is sometimes sold as an herbal supplement but whose synthetic versions critics have labeled gas station heroin. County Executive Ed Romaine is signing new legislation aimed at cracking down on kratom, marking a fresh regulatory step on Long Island.
The Suffolk measure is more nuanced than the approach taken next door. It does not go as far as neighboring Nassau County, which already has a complete ban on kratom including natural kratom, but it still tightens the rules significantly for local sellers and users.
Under the new law, all kratom is banned for those under the age of 21, and adult use is limited to only naturally derived kratom. That naturally derived product will now be tested and regulated, rather than sold without oversight.
The push is driven by concern over the synthetic forms of the drug. Critics call them gas station heroin because they can be bought in convenience stores and can act like opioids, with particular worry over a more potent product known as 7-OH.
The human cost behind the legislation is illustrated by 41-year-old Camden Ackerman, who began using natural kratom leaf compounds, from a tree native to Southeast Asia, to help with lifelong back pain. Ackerman says he became addicted, that over the time of use his liver enzymes spiked heavily, and that once while traveling without it he became violently ill.
For Ackerman, the path out was not simple. He says only inpatient treatment fixed the addiction, and he hopes his experience serves as a wake-up call, warning that the substance is very alluring but comes with a large amount of consequences.
Not everyone in the industry opposes the change. At Roots Kava Bar in Port Jefferson, owners who have been serving products with natural kratom say they are relieved that Suffolk's ban is more nuanced, arguing they have shown there is a safe method built on lab testing and no synthetics.
The law carries real teeth for those who ignore it. Anyone found to be in violation in Suffolk County can face up to 1,000 dollars in fines or one year in prison, and the measure goes into effect immediately.