Randy Wilson was known as someone who would do anything for anyone.
“He was very family-oriented… he was kind, and he took care of people,” his mother, Sandra Wilson, said of her 31-year-old son, who died July 14.
A Deer Park resident in Orange County, Randy used kratom regularly since 2016 to relax or boost his mood. He typically drank a kratom mixture every day — including the day he died. While at home with his family, he had a seizure and died within minutes.
“We started CPR, but he was probably gone before the paramedics even got here,” Sandra Wilson said. “But they did everything they could.”
Kratom is a leaf found in Southeast Asia that can have mild sedative effects when chewed. But public health officials and lawmakers say the material often changes into powders, gummies, pills or synthetics that carry serious health risks. Sandra Wilson said her son thought the product was natural and therefore safe.
Her son’s autopsy showed kratom was the only drug in his system and found signs of mitragynine toxicity, she said. “Basically, it’s like he was poisoned,” she said.
Randy Wilson is one of several New Yorkers who have died in recent years after using kratom products. Families have taken their concerns to state lawmakers, prompting bipartisan support for tighter rules.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering two bills that cleared the Legislature unanimously. One would ban kratom sales to anyone under 21. The other would require a warning label on all kratom products noting the drug’s serious health risks and that it is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“The warning label is very accurate and people should have that information,” Assembly sponsor Phil Steck told Spectrum News 1. “If they [users] want to decide they can go forward notwithstanding, so be it.” Steck said he recently gave the governor a letter from a Capital Region mother whose 25-year-old son died after using kratom.
The $1.5 billion kratom industry is lobbying Hochul heavily to weaken the bills, Steck said, but he is hopeful the governor will sign them. She has until Dec. 31 to decide.
“The natural product is the leaf, and that’s not what they’re selling,” Steck said. “They’re selling powder, they’re selling pills, they’re selling synthetics.”
State Sen. Pat Fahy, sponsor of the age-restriction bill, said she hopes Hochul signs it. “People say we over-regulate in government, but if we’re not raising red flags on these issues and we’re still seeing youth going in to get what has become a popular psychoactive substance, into gas stations, we have to raise the alarms here,” Fahy said.
Sandra Wilson is pushing for a statewide ban and warned that many people use kratom as a pain reliever without knowing it can be addictive. “A lot of people say it’s an alternative to opioids, but what it does is it attaches to the opioid sensors in your brain and the withdrawals and everything are very severe,” she said. “It’s a very addictive product.” She argued regulations are only a start and that a full ban is needed.
Steck and Fahy say more data are needed before pursuing a complete ban. “When it comes to substance use disorder and substance abuse, depending on your perspective, we haven’t found that making it illegal is always the most effective approach,” Steck, who chairs the Assembly Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Committee, said. “I don’t know that one can say kratom is quite at the level of heroin, for example, but obviously it’s on the radar now and we have to continue to monitor to see how severe of a problem it is.”
State Health Department officials back regulating kratom but are waiting for further guidance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Congress asked that federal scheduling of kratom as a controlled substance be delayed to allow for public comment.
“Establishing quality control for kratom via regulation and testing would be beneficial for patient safety,” a Health Department spokesperson said. “The department, through its comprehensive programming, monitors emerging threats and substances that may be harmful for the population. New Yorkers should be encouraged to contact Poison Control with a health concern linked to the use of a product sold in the state.”
This article was adapted from an original report published on spectrumlocalnews.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.