Though no prohibition law has passed, California Governor Gavin Newsom is voicing support for the unilateral decision by his California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to declare kratom and 7-OH products illegal and confiscate them from retail shops across the state.
Gov. Newsom tweeted this on Tuesday:
I will not stand by while dangerous, illegal products are sold in our communities. That’s why in just 3 weeks, California agents have removed over 3,300 illicit and deadly kratom and 7-OH products from store shelves, keeping Californians safe.
In a press release entitled “Governor Newsom announces 95% compliance with prohibition of illegal kratom products”, Gov. Newsom stated:
California will not stand by while dangerous, illegal products are sold in our communities. We’ve shown with illegal hemp products that when the state sets clear expectations and partners with businesses, compliance follows. This effort builds on that model — education first, enforcement where necessary — to protect Californians.
The partnership with kratom retailers consisted of CDPH declaring kratom and 7-OH to be illegal in October, then removing $5 million worth of product from shelves. According to the March 3 release, agents from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) began visiting and warning retailers in January not to sell kratom and 7-OH. The retailers then came to 95% compliance after “full enforcement” began from the agency in February.
Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, CDPH declared kratom and 7-OH to be unapproved food additives, “poisonous or deleterious substance[s],” or unpermitted drugs/ingredients.
AB1088 was the latest attempt by the California Assembly to regulate kratom. Introduced in February 2025, the bill would set a 21-and-over sales age, regulate 7-OH levels in kratom products, require labeling and packaging standards, and prohibit products attractive to children. The bill was successfully passed through several committees, but has been inactive since June 2025 as it sits in the Committee on Health.
The release justifies its crackdown on claims that kratom was “implicated — at least in part — in 846 fatal overdose cases in 30 states and D.C. in 2022, the last full year for which data is available. This number is not inclusive of California-specific data. In California, according to a health department specific analysis, kratom was implicated in 242 deaths in 2020-2022, with 27 blamed solely on the illegal product.” Though high doses of mitragynine has led to rare deaths, no evidence was offered that “kratom” being “implicated” in deaths suggests more than mitragynine being simply present in the blood stream of the deceased.
The release also referred to “additional fatal overdoses that were tied to kratom, of which also alcohol was present in all cases.” Kratom should not be combined with other drugs, especially drugs that are deadly on their own, like alcohol. This fact could be required to appear on warning labels if California would ever pass proper legislation. Yet in the same paragraph, the March 3 release states: “Those who were victims of kratom, were otherwise healthy, with no other substances identified as substantively contributing to their deaths.”
Other deaths in Los Angeles county have been called “7-OH overdoses” by authorities, however medical examiners’ reports did not list 7-OH as the primary cause of death, and alcohol was involved in all cases.
The Los Angeles Times published a story on March 4 featuring two L.A. residents who will be criminalized if kratom is made illegal. They now have to order kratom from online retailers based in other states. Robert Wallace and Ari Agalopol both consume kratom for chronic pain. “They’re just taking these actions because of public pressure, and public pressure is happening because of ignorance,” Agalopol told the Times.