KPHD board discusses safety concerns around kratom

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 15, 2026

The Kitsap Public Health District Board received an update from health officer Dr. Herbie Duber about the dangers of kratom at its July 7 meeting, often used to treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, and opioid use disorder.

Per National Poison Center data, between 2015-2025 kratom-related exposure reports to the National Poison Center increased by approximately 1,200% (258 to 3,434), reaching record levels in 2025. Duber added, “There’s been a large increase in those with serious medical outcomes, including hospitalization, and while deaths continue to be a very small number, there’s been an increase in deaths among people who use these concentrated 7-OH products alone.”

Duber described the origin of Kratom, including the sedative and stimulant effects. “Kratom is a tropical tree that’s native to Southeast Asia, and it’s been used for a very long time in numerous traditional medicines in Indonesia, in particular. It has both stimulant effects and sedative effects. The stimulant effects are generally at lower doses, and the sedative effects are at higher doses. There are two active compounds here: there’s mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine or 7-OH. The first one, mitragynine, is something that is the dominant alkaloid compound and is much less potent than 7-OH, which is a much more potent and found in very low concentrations in the kratom leaf,” Duber said.

The health officer said kratom is not actively controlled at the federal level. As of January, 30 states plus the District of Columbia have regulations around kratom; however, Washington state is not among them. Duber said some local health jurisdictions have taken action, including Grant County, which passed a resolution urging local governments, including cities, towns and county commissioners, to restrict the sale and distribution of kratom products.

Duber said he wanted to distinguish kratom leaf from 7-OH products and focus on concentrated hydroxymitragynine 7-OH products. “Kratom is not controlled under the Controlled Substances Act; however, there may be some state regulations or prohibitions against the possession and use of kratom. The FDA has not approved kratom for any medical use,” per a 2024 Department of Justice/ Drug Enforcement Administration drug fact sheet.

In 2021, roughly 1.7 million Americans 12 and older used kratom based on results from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

“So these 7-OH products are sold at concentrations that are well above what is commonly found in the kratom leaf, and that is important to understand. They’re found in pills, gummies, tonics, vapes. They’re widely available at just about every convenience store that you can find. The 7-0H compound works on the same receptors as opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, and too much of this will lead to respiratory depression. Like other opioids, the effects can be reversed with naloxone, and that is important for folks to know, given the increasingly wide distribution of kratom,” Duber said.

The board did not take formal action regarding kratom; the topic will next be discussed by the board’s policy committee, scheduled to meet on Sept. 29. KPHD does not have data on kratom use in Kitsap County at this time, KPHD spokesperson Tad Sooter said.