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Officials out in San Luis Obispo County plan to spend $167,000 to fight kratom. The county’s Board of Advisors approved the funding on September 1 for a new public health program coordinator focused on narcotic addiction linked to kratom and its concentrated derivative, 7-hydroxymitragynine, popularly known as 7-OH. To be fair, California has lots of …
California Spends $167,000 to Fight Kratom Addiction
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Officials out in San Luis Obispo County plan to spend $167,000 to fight kratom. The county’s Board of Advisors approved the funding on September 1 for a new public health program coordinator focused on narcotic addiction linked to kratom and its concentrated derivative, 7-hydroxymitragynine, popularly known as 7-OH.
To be fair, California has lots of options to fight addiction, including local Narcotics Anonymous chapters. But more help is needed. The county’s decision follows nine overdose deaths since 2020 in which kratom was involved. Local health officials describe 7-OH products as a new wave of the opioid crisis sold in gas stations and smoke shops and often marketed as a natural energy supplement.
The Kratom Crisis in The Golden State
The county’s budget breaks the spending into $115,729 for the program coordinator’s salary, $39,700 for supplies and $11,573 for misc. costs. Officials noted that drug treatment centers have seen 40% more intakes for kratom and 7-OH withdrawal because many patients thought the products were safe.
Some 7-OH forms are up to 13x deadlier than morphine. Nationally, 79% of kratom-related deaths reported to poison centers involved multiple drugs. In every one of the county’s nine deaths, other substances appeared in the toxicology report.
About 1% of Cal Poly students used kratom each year from 2023 to 2025. That’s well above the 0.38% national college average.
Kratom and 7-OH is Different
Kratom is an herbal extract from South Asian evergreens that acts as a stimulant at low doses and has opioid-like effects at higher doses. People use it to self-treat pain, anxiety and depression. The FDA has warned that 7-OH shows up in some products in small amounts, and some 7-OH products are falsely sold as kratom. Since 7-OH acts on the same receptors as prescription opioids, dependence and overdose follow the same pattern as opioid addiction.
Patients who thought they were taking a natural alternative to an energy drink ended up addicted. California labels these kratom products adulterated and illegal, but current law is hard to enforce without a local ordinance. The new funding will help the county develop just that.
Harm Reduction and Treatment
Campus Health and Wellbeing at Cal Poly plans weekly Narcan training. Its communications director confirmed Narcan can reverse a kratom overdose since 7-OH behaves like an opioid in the body.
Anyone struggling with dependence can take heart that peer support remains a backbone of recovery. Narcotics Anonymous meetings are free and available all throughout California.
NA Battles Kratom Too
People in San Luis Obispo County and anywhere else in the USA can browse our free directory to find an NA chapter in their neighborhood.
You can also locate opioid treatment programs and ask about naloxone distribution and fentanyl test strips through the county health department. Just call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) and chat with an expert.
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