DELAWARE KRATOM CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT: LAWMAKERS TAKE UNIQUE 'FIRST STEP' TOWARD ROBUST REGULATIONS

Over the past decade of regulatory back-and-forths, lawmakers across the country have repeated a similar pattern in the states that have acted to limit access to kratom.

Advocates have testified in state houses about the prevailing science and the benefit of reasonable regulations, only to have their claims and recommendations fall on deaf ears.

Delaware is reversing that trend.

A bill in Delaware was passed recently that keeps kratom out of the hands of young people and sets the stage for regulators in the state to target synthetically adulterated products posing as natural. Rather than opt for a full ban or more restrictive regulations, lawmakers in Delaware took a "first step" as authorities work on developing in-state testing to ensure that products are accurately labeled and marketed.

The Road to Regulations

Although there was a push to target all kratom products, the bill's sponsor cited "lots of research and engaging with stakeholders across Delaware" to get a true idea of the science surrounding the plant and opted to pursue the pathway toward targeting enhanced products and keeping access to natural leaf kratom.

Gov. Matt Meyer signed the bill on Sept. 8 as part of a legislative process that was celebrated by the American Kratom Association (AKA) and other advocates in the state.

"Governor Meyer and Delaware lawmakers, including the primary sponsors of the kratom legislation, Rep. Melanie Ross Levin and Sen. Marie Pinkney, deserve credit for rejecting simplistic approaches to kratom regulation and instead asking the right questions about product testing, enforcement, and the very real differences among products being marketed under the kratom name," said Mac Haddow, a senior fellow with the AKA.

Ross Levin introduced House Bill 332 in April of this year. As it was written, HB 332 set an age requirement of 21 years old to purchase and language that would target adulterated kratom products, synthetic additives and set a limit on the amount of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) that could be included in a product labeled as kratom.

Per the bill, the limit for 7-OH, which is an alkaloid that occurs in trace amounts in natural kratom leaf, was set at 2 percent of the total alkaloid content. That number matches other states that have imposed similar regulations and is designed to ban products with artificially enhanced levels of 7-OH.

The only issue with those requirements was that regulators in Delaware do not currently possess the ability to test kratom products for alkaloid content, and those same regulators have had issues with out-of-state testing on other herbal products. That means rather than outsource the testing required for kratom regulation, the state opted to rework the bill to give in-state labs a chance to catch up.

That's where the House inserted a substitute bill. That bill was introduced on Jun. 11 of this year, and instead of targeting specific guardrails on the kratom industry, the bill called for state regulators to "provide a report on kratom testing capabilities and potential licensing requirements" that is to be reported to the governor and General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2027. The bill also kept the age requirement of 21 years old to purchase kratom.

An Assist From Advocates

At a hearing in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Ross Levin clarified this was the best first step toward being able to restrict kratom fairly and cost-effectively.

"What we were able to do at this step was just make sure that kids do not get kratom, any type of kratom," Ross Levin said. "The research is not just on testing; the research is on regulation."

Pinkney also testified at that hearing and made it clear that despite current limitations, she still believes that this bill is a path toward more specific laws in the near future.

"This bill is a great first step to be able to work within the confines of what the state is currently able to do, study what we need to do and then eventually come back and make those necessary changes," Pinkney said.

As part of the effort to work toward kratom regulations, the AKA pledged to offer "full technical assistance" to authorities in Delaware as they work toward developing testing capabilities. More specifically, the AKA "will assist state officials in identifying existing public and private laboratory systems."

"The kratom marketplace has changed dramatically. Regulators need the analytical capability to distinguish traditional natural kratom products from products containing synthetically produced, chemically manipulated, or highly concentrated compounds," Haddow said. "Sound public policy begins with knowing what is actually in a product rather than treating every product carrying the word 'kratom' as if it were chemically or pharmacologically identical."

Although there was still pushback from some members of the committee, and a senator suggested an outright ban on kratom, Ross Levin and Pinkney stuck to their story and made their case that prohibition comes with its own drawbacks.

"The states that have banned it have found that to be problematic, which is why we didn't go for a full ban," Ross Levin said. "This is definitely not an end step; it's a first step; this was what we were able to do now."

The substitute bill passed in the House on a 39-1 vote and made it through the Senate with 19 votes in favor of the proposed bill and two others not voting. For the latest on kratom legality in Delaware and other states, visit our kratom legality map. Learn more about kratom legality and regulation nationwide. Read more about kratom advocates briefing U.S. Congress in support of natural leaf products and the AHPA policy warning against labeling 7-OH as kratom.