Kava
What is kava, and is it restricted?
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Kava is a Pacific root crop sold as powder, extract and beverages, with kavalactones as the measured constituent. It is federally unscheduled, FDA has called it a conventional food as of December 2025, and no state restricts packaged retail kava, though New York bars it in food service (Vicente LLP).
What is measured on a kava label?
Kavalactones, stated as a percentage of the root or as milligrams per serving. Sellers list root at 5 to 7 percent kavalactones and gummies at 50 mg each. Once this store sources a kava product, the kavalactone figure will come from a lab report, as the alkaloid figures do for kratom.
Is kava restricted anywhere?
Not in packaged retail. New York State's March 2025 regulation and New York City's ban, upheld by a federal judge on 2025-08-07, reach kava prepared and served in food-service establishments, not shipped packages (NutraIngredients-USA). Iowa's HF 2159 would make kava Schedule I and was introduced, not enacted (Iowa HF 2159). No state sets a kava purchase age; this store applies 21 anyway.
Why does this store have no kava product?
Neither supplier offers a kava-only item; one supplier's kava shot is a pseudoindoxyl blend, which is a Schedule I article. Sourcing a kava-only product is the first item on the owner's list. The kava collection exists and is empty.
What about kava-plus-kratom products?
They are classed as kratom extract and follow every kratom rule, including the exclusion list and the warnings block. See kava basics.
General information, not personalized guidance.
Sources
- Kava and kanna: regulation, safety and market trends for novel ingredients Vicente LLP (law firm summary; cited via search summary) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Judge rules kava drinks banned from NYC cafes (August 12, 2025) NutraIngredients-USA (secondary) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Iowa HF 2159 (91st General Assembly) Iowa Legislature (accessed 2026-10-20)
Related questions
Do I need to be 21 to order?
Yes, for every product and every state, including the five states whose statute sets 18. Seventeen states set 21 by law, among them Florida, Georgia, New York, Virginia and...