Mineola, NY (March 9, 2026) – Nassau County Legislator Arnold W. Drucker today announced the passage of bi-partisan legislation to ban the sale and distribution of Kratom in Nassau County.
Drucker said the unregulated substance poses serious public health risks that go beyond what current New York laws address.
“Kratom is marketed as safe and ‘natural,’ but federal health agencies have repeatedly warned otherwise,” Drucker said. “The FDA has advised consumers not to use Kratom due to risk of serious adverse effects, including dependency, liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder.”
Unlike recent state action in New York, which now bans sales to people under age 21 and requires warning labels on products, Nassau’s proposal goes further by removing Kratom from all retail shelves in the county.
“Kratom is legal federally, not FDA-regulated, and sold in gas stations and convenience stores,” Drucker continued. “There is no federal approval of Kratom as safe or effective, and its availability is largely uncontrolled.”
The legislation arrives amid growing concerns over Kratom’s opioid-like effects and its increasing presence in retail products. Compounds found in Kratom bind to opioid receptors in the brain and have been linked in scientific and public health reports to addiction and other serious health risks.
Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton framed the effort as prevention and public safety.
“We’ve made real progress fighting the opioid epidemic,” she said. “We cannot allow another unregulated substance with opioid-like effects to spread unchecked.”
Legislator Debra Mulé emphasized accessibility as a key concern.
“Kratom doesn’t require a prescription. You just walk into a gas station or smoke shop,” Mulé said. “That kind of accessibility for a drug with documented risks is unacceptable.”
Legislator Scott Davis added that the current legal patchwork of age limits and labeling at the state level — while a step forward — still leaves too many products accessible to vulnerable residents.
“When something binds to opioid receptors and isn’t regulated like other controlled substances, that’s a public health issue,” Davis said.
Legislator Carrie Solages noted community impact.
“We cannot allow an unregulated drug to spread with misleading claims of safety,” Solages said.
Drucker concluded, “This is about protecting residents from a substance that is widely available but carries serious risks and few safeguards. Nassau County can and should do more than simply regulate Kratom, we should remove it from our retail environment altogether.”