I never expected to say this, but it is time for New Hampshire to do what Massachusetts just did with kratom.
On Aug. 13, the Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner issued an emergency order
classifying all components of kratom as Schedule I for one year. The action addresses the immediate harm kratom is causing while legislators have the chance to address it in the coming session. This is a groundbreaking move for a state with fairly progressive drug laws.
Kratom is an evergreen tree native to southeast Asia. Its leaves can be crushed and smoked,
brewed into beverages or placed into gel capsules. Kratom leaves contain two major
psychoactive ingredients: mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). Mitragynine acts on opioid receptors in the brain. When the body metabolizes mitragynine, it produces 7-OH, a compound the FDA has found produces respiratory depression at more than three times the potency of morphine. 7-OH can also be synthetically produced. Both components can lead to addiction, psychotic symptoms and medically reported deaths.
Kratom products have flooded the U.S. market and are sold to both adolescents and adults, and are commonly called “gas station heroin.” Abuse and harm from kratom have skyrocketed in recent years. Learn more at EndKratomAddiction.org.
On July 1, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily scheduled 7-OH as a Schedule I drug. Massachusetts went further, classifying both mitragynine and 7-OH as Schedule I substances, a move supported by a growing number of health professionals. Kratom is banned in 33 countries, including most of Europe, and roughly 11 states have banned both mitragynine and 7-OH, including Vermont. In December 2025, the Department of Defense prohibited all military personnel from using any products containing kratom.
Recognizing the public relations nightmare unfolding around kratom, the American Kratom Association drafted model legislative language and pushed it to any state willing to carry their water. The so-called Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) seeks to regulate the substance through age restrictions, disclosure requirements and potency caps. However, the KCPA does not include a mitragynine ban.
Last year, a version of the KCPA was introduced in the New Hampshire Senate. It was amended to classify kratom as a controlled substance rather than regulate it, but the effort fell apart in the House when the bill was gutted and replaced with non-germane language that ultimately tanked it.
Regardless of political differences over how to approach the kratom problem, both sides of the State House agreed it is a public health crisis needing our attention. Many legislators were disappointed we ended the session empty-handed, with no protections for our state.
This leads me back to Massachusetts. Through the actions of the Public Health Commissioner, with the support of Gov. Maura Healey, Massachusetts appears to understand the gravity and immediacy of the harm kratom is causing. Classifying mitragynine and 7-OH as Schedule I for one year gives legislators time to codify language addressing the problem, while immediately shutting down the exploitation of citizens by widely available “gas station heroin.”
Massachusetts can do this because it has a legal provision granting the Public Health Commissioner authority to issue an emergency scheduling order. New Hampshire does not appear to have a law allowing emergency drug scheduling, but it does have RSA 318-B:1-a, which allows the NH Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner to “add, delete, or reschedule all substances, by rule, pursuant to RSA 541-A, after hearing and after consulting with the pharmacy board.”
If New Hampshire waits for legislators to get through the next election cycle, file bills, hold hearings, have a bill survive both chambers, reach the governor’s desk for signature and clear “veto day,” we will likely see no action on kratom for well over a year — and that doesn’t even count the time needed for the bill’s effective date to take root.
New Hampshire needs action on kratom now; we can’t wait for the 2027 legislative session. I am calling on NH DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver to follow Massachusetts’s lead and safeguard the health of Granite Staters. Implementing RSA 318-B:1-a would be a step in the right direction and could allow kratom to be scheduled before the 2027 legislative session even begins.
Commissioner Weaver, will you act?
Sue Homola is the New Hampshire chairman for Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions. She lives in Hollis.