Ulster legislators Thursday voted to postpone consideration of a countywide ban on the sale of kratom, the gas station high that has been linked to a wide range of rare but serious health issues including death.

The legislators hit pause chiefly because similar legislation at the state and federal level may render local action redundant and because the county's Health Department may not be prepared to undertake enforcement, as the law would prescribe.

Marketed as an “herbal supplement,” kratom products are derived from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, a tree native to Southeast Asia, and have gone largely unregulated in the U.S. until recent years and then on a patchwork basis with virtually no federal oversight. Last month, the Dutchess County Legislature passed a ban on all synthetic kratom products; natural kratom would still be allowed.

Here in Ulster County health officials report two kratom-related deaths this year (one involving multiple drugs) and one in 2025 (also involving other drugs).

County Resolution 480, voted down 5-2 by the Legislature's Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee, would have scheduled an Oct. 20 first public hearing on the ban, Proposed Local Law No. 16. That measure would forbid the sale to minors of any and all kratom products and the sale to anyone of kratom products containing specified levels of certain opioid-like chemical compounds.

“Compounds with effects such as sedation, nausea, vomiting, constipation – this doesn't sound like a great thing we want in the hands of many people, particularly young people,” resolution author Legislator William Murray (D-Village/Town of New Paltz) told the committee. “I think this is a conversation we need to have in our community about what it is, and if we need to pass [a ban] on the local level.”

Several legislators made the point about similar legislation near or under consideration at the state and federal level. In Albany, both houses of the legislature passed kratom regulations late in last year's session and Gov. Hochul is believed to be likely to sign off on them.

In Washington, D.C., as County Deputy Executive James Amenta explained to the committee, “The federal government has proposed a much stricter version than the state law or our county proposal has considered. Additionally, the federal action has moved the ownership and distribution of these chemicals into the criminal sphere, as opposed to the civil sphere.”

“The county local law would charge the health department with standing up a new section of the office within its purview,” Amenta continued. “In order to carry this out, our hope is that we could have more discussion with legislators to determine exactly the best way to stand up an interim measure if the goal is to to bridge the gap [between local and other enforcement].

“I certainly understand what's happening at the state and federal level,” Murray said. “I think that's great. However, I do think that this is a discussion we can have examining this law, not only to perhaps protect our citizens, but also to get word out about what this is. Up until I think a couple weeks ago, people asked me, you know, what is this?”

A further objection, this from Deputy Minority Leader Craig Lopez (R-Shawangunk, Wawarsing), placed an additional nail into the measure's coffin. “Regarding a public hearing,” he said, “I know if there's going to be enough changes, potential changes to this policy or legislation, that you would have to revisit a public hearing. So, if those changes are a possibility I would lean towards postponing this.”

Notwithstanding Thursday's vote, Murray is determined to follow through on the measure's intent. “Action pertaining to synthetic kratom is moving along and developing at a quick pace,” he texted Kingston Wire. “We'll see what might be needed for the county next month.”