Kratom ban

Founder of Kratom Danger Awareness, she described her son Joseph's 2020 death attributed to kratom and urged the board to review her data packet before deciding.

A Schenectady kratom shop owner, she credited natural leaf kratom with rescuing her from postpartum anxiety and prescription drugs and argued the county should target only synthetic 7-OH products.

Her 22-year-old son Matthew died in 2021 from whole-leaf kratom alone, she said, and she implored the board to ban all forms of kratom.

Representing the Global Kratom Coalition, she argued most consumers use kratom safely, the DEA is handling synthetic 7-OH, and a countywide natural-leaf ban would go beyond state and federal action unnecessarily.

A recovering addict, she said whole-leaf kratom ended her opioid addiction and asked the board not to ban it, pointing instead at synthetic 7-OH.

Calling from Georgia, she said her son died in 2024 from raw leaf kratom addiction alone and urged the board to pass the full ban despite industry pushback.

A Utah advocate with severe facial nerve disease, she credited kratom with restoring her life and cautioned against setting policy on potentially inaccurate death certificates.

Calling from Tennessee, she said kratom has managed her chronic pain for seven years and asked for regulation — labeling, age limits — rather than a ban.

A Michigan woman who left a 12-year prescription opioid addiction via kratom, she asked the board to keep it available for people like her.

Calling from Virginia, she said kratom helped her and family members who survived fentanyl poisonings achieve sobriety, and asked the county to regulate synthetics but protect natural leaf access.