Two weeks after giving preliminary approval to a law that would outlaw kratom sales, the Fresno City Council pivoted this week, giving a final green light this week to a modified law that restricts, rather than bans, the sale of kratom products to adults.
Kratom, a plant in the same botanical family as coffee, is native to Southeast Asia and has a long history of traditional use as a stimulant in that part of the world.
It has gained popularity in recent decades in the U.S. because of the mood-altering effects of two of the naturally-occurring alkaloid compounds found in the leaves, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitraginine, or 7-OH.
Products made from kratom are widely available at smoke shops, convenience stores and other locations in various forms, from bulk powder of ground kratom leaves, capsules of kratom powder, or liquid shots and beverages.
The ordinance approved on Dec. 4 will take effect in early January 2026. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer told CVJC that he does not plan to veto the measure, which would allow retailers in the city of Fresno to sell natural-leaf kratom products only to people age 21 and older. Sales of kratom-derived products with 7-OH levels greater than 1% of the total alkaloid content of the product will be banned entirely.
7-OH and other unregulated, concentrated or synthetic opioids or psychoactive compounds are sometimes known by the nickname “gas station heroin” – a moniker that reflects both their opioid characteristics and widespread availability.
Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza, who sponsored the original version of the kratom ban along with Councilmember Tyler Maxwell, offered the amendment following public comments from advocates who praised kratom as a natural and beneficial product while also condemning synthetically isolated and concentrated 7-OH.
“My office has also received countless messages from individuals across the country who have shared their experiences with kratom, including the potential medicinal benefits for those who have struggled to find relief through traditional treatments,” Esparza said. “But unfortunately, what we’ve seen here is that bad actors have taken this plant and concentrated the psychoactive compounds that create products that in some ways misuse the name kratom, but function essentially as opioids.”
Esparza said his goal for the amended ordinance “is to strike a responsible balance, recognize the cultural and historical use of the loose leaf kratom, but also maintain the prohibition of the dangerous and high potency products” such as 7-OH that he said have been blamed for illnesses and fatal overdoses throughout the U.S.
“At low doses, kratom produces stimulant effects, with users reporting increased alertness, physical energy, talkativeness, and sociable behavior,” according to an October 2025 evaluation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “At high doses, kratom’s opioid effects include sedation and euphoria.”
Neither kratom nor 7-OH are considered controlled substances by the DEA, but earlier this year the federal Food and Drug Administration asked the DEA to list 7-OH as a Schedule 1 drug – the most restrictive of five categories under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Under federal law, Schedule 1 “drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Those include heroin; LSD; marijuana; 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, better known as Molly or Ecstasy; methaqualone or Quaaludes; and peyote.
But the FDA specifically indicated that it is not targeting natural-leaf kratom in its request to the DEA.
Fresno County’s Board of Supervisors is taking similar steps to regulate kratom at the county level, but putting the threshold for 7-OH concentrations at 2% instead of the 1% adopted by the Fresno City Council. Final approval of the Fresno County law is set for Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The Fresno County ordinance would apply only to retailers in unincorporated areas of the county, and not within the city of Fresno nor the other 14 incorporated cities in the county.
Tim Sheehan is a senior reporter and Health Care Reporting Fellow at the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. The fellowship is supported by a grant from the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust. Contact Sheehan at tim@cvlocaljournalism.org.
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