Ulster County is writing a kratom law. Help keep it narrow.
Proposed Local Law No. 16 of 2026 would prohibit concentrated and synthetic 7-OH kratom products in Ulster County and keep natural leaf legal for adults 21 and over. We support it as written. Some local advocates are asking legislators to widen it into a ban on all kratom, natural leaf included.
Last updated October 5, 2026. Provisions come from the proposed local law attached to Resolution No. 480.1 on the Legislature's website; legislator addresses come from its directory.
What the filed text would do.
Everything in this list comes from the text of Proposed Local Law No. 16 of 2026 posted with Resolution No. 480.1, and each line names the section it comes from. Legislator William Murray is the sponsor, with Legislators Laura Donovan and Jason J. Kovacs.
- What it prohibits: selling, offering for sale or distributing a "Prohibited 7-OH Product," defined as any kratom or kratom product with 7-hydroxymitragynine above 2 percent of total alkaloids or 1 milligram per serving (Section 4, §149-2; Section 5, §149-3(A)).
- Natural leaf: kratom below those limits is not prohibited. The law adds a rule that no kratom may be sold to anyone under 21, the age New York State already sets (§149-3(B)).
- Online sellers: both rules apply to any online platform wherever it is located, and a sale counts as made in the county whenever the product is delivered or shipped to an Ulster County address (§149-3(A) and (B)).
- Exceptions: products sold under a New York prescription, and products approved by the FDA (§149-3(A)).
- Penalties: civil, up to $1,500 for a first violation and up to $3,000 for each later one within 36 months, plus $500 when the sale is to someone under 21. Each sale is a separate violation, and liability is strict (§149-3(A), §149-4(B) and (C)).
- Enforcement: the Ulster County Department of Mental Health (§149-4(A)).
- State law takes over: the law becomes void the day a statewide law with the same or substantially similar provisions takes effect, as S8925A would be (Section 8, Reverse Preemption).
- Effective date: once adopted, on filing with the New York Secretary of State (Section 10).
Nothing changes as written
We ship to Ulster County addresses now. Everything we sell is natural leaf, below both limits, and we already sell only to adults 21 and over, so this law as written would not change an order.
If it were widened to cover natural leaf and adopted, we would stop shipping to Ulster County when it took effect, as we do for Nassau, Washington, Oneida and Albany counties, and we would tell customers there first.
The right line, drawn at concentration.
This is a law we would like to see passed. It reaches the concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products behind most of the harm reporting, products we have never sold, and it leaves tested natural leaf legal for adults.
It reaches the products behind the concern
The county's own findings say 7-OH occurs only in trace amounts in natural kratom leaf, while concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products carry it at levels far beyond the plant. The 2 percent and 1 milligram limits separate the two.
The same line as Dutchess and the state
Dutchess County adopted these limits in August 2026, and S8925A, which passed both houses of the State Legislature unanimously in June, uses the same numbers. Section 8 folds the county law into state law the day a matching state law takes effect.
A full ban moves sales, it does not end them
A ban that reached natural leaf would push adults toward sellers who check no ages, test no batches and label nothing, and close the ones who do all three. The concentrated products that prompted this law are covered by it as drafted.
Video series for officials
Kratom Leaf and 7-OH
Short explainers for officials weighing an outright ban, with a transcript and sources for every part.
Watch the series
Two committees first. Then the full Legislature.
Ulster County has a 23-member Legislature, one legislator per district. Resolution No. 480.1, which would set the public hearing, goes to the Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee on Wednesday, October 8 at 4 p.m. and to the Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee on Wednesday, October 15 at 4 p.m. Local reporting expects the full Legislature to take it up on October 20.
The hearing is proposed for Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7:05 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers, 6th Floor, 244 Fair Street, Kingston. The Legislature can adopt the law only after that hearing, and it takes effect once filed with the Secretary of State.
Write to your own legislator and to the two committees, and send a copy to the Clerk so it is part of the record. Two honest sentences from a resident, saying who you are and what you are asking for, outweigh any script, including ours.
Write your own email in a minute
Pick your district if you know it, say where you are writing from and add your name and town. The letter rewrites itself for an Ulster County resident, a New Yorker outside the county, and someone out of state, because those are not the same argument and legislators can tell the difference.
Your letter
Addresses are the legislators' county email addresses as listed in the Legislature's directory. Nothing you type here is sent to us: the letter opens in your own email app, and you can edit it before sending.
All 23 legislators
By district, as listed in the Legislature's directory. The Clerk's address is the one to use for the hearing record.
Aaron J. Levine
Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee. Deputy Majority Leader. Chair, Laws, Rules and Government Services
Ann Peters
On both committees.
Jason J. Kovacs
Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee. Deputy Chair, Laws, Rules and Government Services. Co-sponsor of Local Law No. 16
Abe Uchitelle
Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee. Majority Leader
Greg McCollough
Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee.
Peter Criswell
Chair of the Legislature
Joe Donaldson
Dominick Marino
Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee.
Laura Donovan
Co-sponsor of Local Law No. 16
Kevin A. Roberts
Minority Leader
Craig V. Lopez
Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee. Deputy Minority Leader. Deputy Chair, Health, Human Services and Human Rights
Thomas J. (TJ) Briggs
Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee.
Debra Clinton
Megan Sperry
Vice Chair of the Legislature
Eric Stewart
Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee. Chair, Health, Human Services and Human Rights
Lindsey Grossman
William Murray
On both committees. Sponsor of Local Law No. 16
Kathy Nolan
Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee.
Jeff Collins
Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee.
Victoria Fabella, Clerk of the Legislature
Legislature Offices, 6th Floor, 244 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401. (845) 340-3900.
- vfab@ulstercountyny.gov
What people are asking.
Is Ulster County banning kratom?
No. Proposed Local Law No. 16 of 2026 would prohibit only kratom products with 7-OH above 2 percent of total alkaloids or 1 milligram per serving. Natural leaf falls below those limits and stays legal for adults 21 and over. It is a proposal: the public hearing is proposed for November 17, 2026, and nothing has been adopted.
Will Hudson Valley Botanicals keep shipping to Ulster County?
Yes. We sell natural leaf only, below both limits, and only to adults 21 and over, so this law as written would not change an order. If it were widened to cover natural leaf and adopted, we would stop shipping to Ulster County when it took effect and tell customers there first.
When and where can I speak?
At the public hearing, proposed for Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7:05 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers, 6th Floor, 244 Fair Street, Kingston. The date is set only once the Legislature approves Resolution No. 480.1, which goes to the Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee on October 8 and the Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee on October 15. Written comments can go to the Clerk of the Legislature at vfab@ulstercountyny.gov.
Why would a kratom seller support a kratom law?
Because this one draws the line at concentrated and synthetic 7-OH, products we have never sold, and keeps tested natural leaf legal for adults. We wrote to the Clerk of the Legislature in September supporting it as drafted.
Who is my county legislator?
The Legislature's Find My Legislator page looks it up by address. The letter builder on this page also lists all 23 legislators by district.
Where every claim came from.
The provisions on this page were read from the text of Proposed Local Law No. 16 of 2026 posted with Resolution No. 480.1 on the Ulster County Legislature's website. The proposed hearing date and time come from the Legislature's listing for Resolution No. 480.1. The PDF attached to that listing still shows the October 20 date from Resolution No. 480, so treat the date as proposed until the Legislature sets it.
Committee members and meeting dates come from the Legislature's pages for the Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee and the Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee, and legislator addresses from its directory. The October 20 date for the full Legislature comes from KingstonCitizens.org, the local advocacy site asking for a complete ban.
Our own letter to the Health and Laws committees and letter to the Clerk of the Legislature supporting the law as drafted are posted with our other county filings on the advocacy documents page. For the neighbouring Dutchess County law on the same limits, see our Dutchess County page, and for the wider New York picture, our state-by-state kratom legality reference.
Hudson Valley Botanicals sells kratom, and a wider version of this local law would affect us, so read this page with that interest in mind. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here describes what any product does. It is a summary of a proposed local law, with section citations so you can check it yourself. Laws change; the county's own published documents are the authoritative version.
