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Riverside council hears hours of divided public testimony on proposed kratom ordinance
Summary
The City Council heard extensive public comment for and against a proposed kratom ordinance April 21; speakers split between calls to ban all kratom after deaths and appeals to regulate natural leaf kratom while targeting synthetic concentrates. The council took no final vote during the hearing.
Hundreds of minutes of public comment at the Riverside City Council meeting on April 21 centered on a proposed ordinance to address kratom products, with callers sharply divided between those asking for a blanket ban and those urging regulation that preserves access to natural leaf kratom.
Supporters of regulation—including several long‑time consumers and representatives of the Global Kratom Coalition—argued that concentrated synthetic products such as laboratory‑enhanced 7‑hydroxymitragynine (7‑OH) pose the primary risk while unadulterated leaf products provide pain relief and harm‑reduction benefits. Walker Gollman, legislative director of the Global Kratom Coalition, urged the…
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