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Senate committee advances bill to curb nitrous‑oxide sales and make concentrated kratom alkaloid a misdemeanor
Summary
The Senate Committee on Public Safety voted 5‑0 to send SB 758 to Appropriations after amendments that narrow retailer prohibitions for nitrous oxide and make sale or distribution of concentrated 7‑hydroxymitragynine (7‑OH) a misdemeanor rather than a Schedule I offense. Supporters cited youth misuse and poison‑control calls; opponents urged regulation rather than criminalization.
Sen. Umberg, the bill’s author, told the Senate Committee on Public Safety that SB 758 would restrict sales of nitrous oxide in certain retail settings and make the sale or distribution of products containing concentrated 7‑hydroxymitragynine (7‑OH) a misdemeanor while preserving legitimate culinary and medicinal uses.
The bill’s author and supporters framed the measure as a public safety response to what they described as rising recreational misuse. "The availability of nitrous oxide is a scourge on our community and on California," said Mari Roden, a Ukiah city council member representing the League of California Cities, recounting emergency‑room cases and littered whippet canisters in…
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