This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A New Hampshire House committee on Tuesday gave a positive recommendation to a bill that seeks to ban the sale or possession of high-dose, synthetic or semi-synthetic kratom, a widely available product that presents public safety concerns.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has expressed support for increased regulation of the substance. The state Senate has approved a separate version of the bill.
Kratom is a tropical plant with leaves that have been traditionally consumed for pain relief, mood enhancement and to relieve symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
However, a recent shift from traditional leaf preparations to high-potency extracts has led to increased reports to poison control centers, according to a March 26 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“During the past 11 years, poison centers received a total of 14,449 kratom exposure reports; the record high 3,434 reports in 2025 represent an increase of approximately 1,200% compared with the 258 reports in 2015,” the CDC said in the report.
It adds: “Hospitalizations for single-substance kratom exposure reports increased 1,200%, from 43 in 2015 to 538 in 2025.”
The Mayo Clinic says on its website that kratom has the potential for affecting the mind and nervous system, including hallucinations, depression, trouble breathing, confusion, tremors and seizures.
As amended, the bill would outlaw the sale of any kratom that has a dry weight volume of more than 1,000 parts per million of 7-hydroxymitragynine — commonly known as 7-OH, Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, the amendment’s author, told the House Finance Committee on Tuesday.
“In my discussions with various stakeholders, kratom as a leaf is a tea product that is sold at coffee and tea shops across the state,” Sweeney said. “We certainly didn’t want to ban those products utilized by consumers and some products below 1,000 parts per million.
“A handful of kratom isn’t going to harm you, but when it gets concentrated into that 30,000 and 40,000 and 50,000 parts per million, those are the products that people refer to as gas station heroin.”
The bill will now go to the full House for further consideration.
It is similar to a version passed in the Senate, but there are some differences that the two chambers would have to resolve before it could be sent to Ayotte for her signature.
