Douglas County health workers brace for Kansas kratom ban

Smoke shops and gas stations across Douglas County will have to pull kratom and 7-OH products from their counters when Kansas’ ban takes effect July 1, and Lawrence health workers are bracing for the people who may suddenly lose a substance they were using for pain, fatigue or opioid withdrawal. Douglas County agencies are preparing both to enforce the ban and to help users who could face painful withdrawal if they stop all at once.

Gov. Laura Kelly signed House Bill 2365 on April 10, placing 7-OH kratom-related substances in Schedule I and making conforming changes to the criminal code and controlled-substances statutes. DCCCA is warning current users that kratom will be illegal to possess, purchase or sell in Kansas when the ban takes effect, and is urging people to plan a safe transition before the deadline hits.

The FDA warns consumers not to use kratom because of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures and substance use disorder, and calls products containing 7-OH novel potent opioid products. Federal regulators have received reports of addiction, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal distress, insomnia, seizures and withdrawal symptoms tied to 7-OH. People use kratom for opioid-withdrawal symptoms, pain, fatigue and mental health problems. Kratom can act as a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at higher doses.

Chrissy Mayer of DCCCA warned that the ban lands just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, when emergency departments can already be busier than usual. Emergency department visits for kratom and 7-OH overdose and withdrawal increased significantly from 2024 to 2025, according to the Kansas Hospital Association’s kratom fact sheet.

DCCCA, the Lawrence-based nonprofit, is coordinating the local response. Kratom and 7-OH products are sold in vape shops and other locations in pills, liquids and powders. The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board will be part of that coordination as retailers, police and clinicians confront a new legal line on shelves that had been legal until the end of June.