OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – At the Tuesday, July 21, 2026, Ocala City Council meeting, Mayor Ben Marciano and council members advanced a proposal to ban the sale of kratom in the city, collaborating with Marion County on enforcement to address what they described as a growing public health crisis.
The discussion was preceded by emotional public comments from two speakers who shared personal tragedies linked to kratom use. Alyssa Gonzalez Julius, a cardiovascular invasive specialist, described the death of her 41-year-old brother, attributing it directly to kratom ingestion.
“His death was directly caused by the ingestion of kratom, a highly dangerous and unregulated lethal compound marketed and sold in almost all gas stations and tobacco shops. As a cardiovascular invasive specialist, I work daily in high-critical and high-acuity environments, managing life-threatening emergencies. Throughout my career, I’ve never witnessed such terrifying, catastrophic whole-body shutdown in a person so young that we couldn’t save or prolong. Watching his body suffer, complete systemic collapse was harrowing and unnatural, and completely unacceptable. Kratom is not harmless nor natural in its form now. I can also assure you that if he knew he would never wake up again, he wouldn’t have taken the substance,” Gonzalez said.
She highlighted over 750 deaths reported by Florida medical examiners and criticized manufacturers for profiting from unregulated, concentrated products without adequate warnings.
Ian Crawford, a 21-year-old survivor, recounted an April 25, 2026, overdose incident involving 7Stax Nitrogen Blend Kratom purchased at an Ocala smoke shop. He and his friend fell into comas after consuming the product.
“What we thought was going to be a normal fun night between two friends quickly turned into my worst nightmare,” Crawford said. “On April 2026 at 8 a.m., my parents received a phone call that no parent wants to receive. My best friend and I had overdosed from 7stax kratom nitrogen blend. We both fell into comas, and my friend’s parents were woken up from a phone call about this in Tokyo, Japan, and quickly were on their way to America. Thanks to the quick actions of the first responders and medical professionals at Shands Hospital, we survived. A simple choice of buying this legal drug cost me my sense of safety, my job, financial burdens, months of health and recovery, lingering physical and emotional effects, and the peace of knowing that my best friend and I would both come home. A substance with the power to put two young people into comas should not be as easy to obtain as a soda or a snack.”
He cited 3,672 suspected kratom-related overdose EMS encounters in Florida between January 2023 and April 2026, urging the council to act to prevent similar incidents.
City of Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano, who has raised concerns about kratom multiple times over the past year, referenced prior discussions and growing community reports of overdoses, including cases observed by the Ocala Police Department (OPD).
“At the Ocala Police Department, we’ve seen that people have overdosed with packages of kratom next to them, and they’re deceased. Numerous people have reached out to me in the last six months, talking about what kratom’s done to them and their families. Kratom is now illegal in nine states. States are continuing to pick this up and see how serious it is. Even California has banned the sale of kratom. I think that speaks volumes,” Marciano said.
“I propose that we partner with the county and we ban the sale of kratom and we take a stand,” Marciano said. He highlighted Sarasota County’s effective ban as a model.
“We cannot wait for our state to address this. This is a serious issue, and we can see that lives have already been lost,” Marciano continued.
“It was several weeks ago. We were in the opioid settlement meeting where I brought up to Commissioner Bryant, or brought up to the group, Council President Bethea was in there, that this is an issue in our community, and she proposed writing an ordinance that would ban the sale of kratom in our community, and that’s my proposal. That’s my proposal to you today, is that we partner with the county, ban the sale of kratom and we take a stand.”
City Attorney Will Sexton confirmed outreach to the county attorney, who provided a draft ordinance. The county is prepared to move forward. Options include code enforcement (potentially with Certificate of Occupancy revocation for repeat violators) enforced by Ocala police, or a criminal approach.
Council members expressed strong support.
“I believe we should take a stance. I don’t want to see this stuff in my town again,” Councilmember Barry Mansfield said.
Councilmember Kristen Dreyer expressed support as well.
“I did speak with our chief earlier today about this just to make sure that they were on board with using your officers for that, and he was completely on board with it. So, you guys are the specialized group in dealing with drug enforcement, and they already know what they’re doing. I did have some initial concerns, and he walked me right through it, so I think it makes sense,” she said.
Councilmember James Hilty recalled past discussion related to kratom.
“Last time we had the discussion, and that was really kind of the first time my eyes were opened about this kratom, and it was mainly during that discussion, it was mainly confined to a tea room downtown,” Hilty said. “And then that following Saturday, I happened to be sitting in Dunkin’ Donuts with a bunch of guys that I know, and I look across the street to the Shell gas station, and there’s the big neon sign ‘Kratom,’ and that’s when I first learned that it’s now being sold in places like that. And you’re right, it’s not controlled, so I think we really need to do something. Test the waters, do whatever we have to do. So, especially if we can get some support from the county.”
Councilmember Jay Musleh discussed implementation details, such as code board education or magistrate handling, and prohibiting marketing/display.
“I think it ought to be the police department that would handle it, and if you want to run it through the code system, then you can do that because you’ve got the ability to levy fines, and you have the ability for repeat offenders, and then, like you say, I guess you could revoke the occupancy license, and there may be some voluntary compliance,” Musleh said.
The proposal builds on earlier council discussions in late 2025 and April 2026, where no formal action was taken despite public input on both sides.
City staff will continue collaborating with the county to refine the ordinance, potentially bringing a draft back for further review.
No immediate vote was taken, but the consensus was to move forward proactively rather than wait for state action.