NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS REMAIN STALEMATE OVER BILL REGULATING KRATOM, HEMP

Discussions surrounding kratom have evolved as the science and federal guidelines have changed, and that evolution is changing the way that state governments can approach the kratom question. 

In North Carolina, the inability to cast doubt on kratom kept lawmakers from placing the plant in a wide-ranging regulatory bill that covered multiple substances. 

Lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a measure that was primarily concerned with intoxicating hemp products, before an attempted detour by the state Senate included kratom in the proposed legislation. The addition of kratom came as part of a conference committee on a bill that had passed both houses. Instead of adopting the new language, the North Carolina House of Representatives delayed action on the proposed measure. It delayed the next vote on the measure until November, effectively killing any chance of a ban or restrictions placed on natural kratom products. 

Adding Kratom to a Hemp Bill

The attempt to regulate kratom started in March of 2025 with a bill aimed at putting regulations on intoxicating hemp products. That bill, House Bill 328, was originally filed to make it illegal to possess or use hemp products on school grounds or at school-sponsored events. In that form, it made two stops in committee, passed a second reading by a floor vote of 112-0 and made it through the lower chamber of North Carolina’s statehouse. 

Once the bill arrived in the state Senate in April of last year, it was shifted toward wide-ranging regulations. 

Following a successful first reading, the bill was sent to the Senate Health Care Committee. The original form of the bill was a two-page measure that focused on keeping unregulated hemp products out of schools. What emerged from the Health Care Committee was a comprehensive, 19-page regulatory structure for both hemp products and kratom. 

Instead of simply banning hemp products in schools, the substitute bill offered a regulatory framework for hemp products that includes rules for manufacturers, age limits for purchase and rules for how products must be tested and labeled. Those proposed regulations took up the first 18 pages of the substitute bill. 

Buried under that regulatory language was a simple section dedicated to all kratom products. 

Rather than offering a similar regulatory structure for kratom, the substitute bill included a clause that would make all forms of kratom Schedule VI controlled substances in the state. That's the same scheduling category as marijuana. Per that version of the bill, the only way kratom would be removed from Schedule VI was to receive a specific approval or classification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

In that form, the bill was reported favorably by all three committees it was assigned to and passed its second reading 35-7 before passing a third reading and being sent back to the House with a special message about the changes. Instead of taking up the measure, the House removed the bill from its calendar and held the bill until April of this year. Following a year of inaction, the House decided against concurring with the Senate’s version of the bill, and that motion passed by a vote of 95-18. 

Finding a Middle Ground

That triggered a conference committee on the proposed bill. The committee was formed at the end of June and released its report on July 2 with a new version of the bill. 

The conference committee suggested sweeping changes in the parts of the bill that focused on hemp and completely shifted the approach to regulating kratom. Rather than making all forms of kratom a controlled substance, the new version of the bill made it illegal to sell or possess a synthetic kratom product and set an age limit at 21 years old. 

The key distinction between natural kratom products and synthetic derivatives follows recent activity from the FDA and DEA. Both of those federal agencies have come out this year against synthetic products posing as kratom, and have specifically mentioned the prevailing science around natural leaf kratom as the reason for their updated stance on natural leaf kratom. 

In comments to local reporters, North Carolina’s Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said she supported the committee’s version of kratom regulation because it restricted “gas station drugs” despite her hesitation on the portions of the proposed measure that focused on hemp. The conference committee was adopted in the Senate by a vote of 37-6 on the same day the report was released, leaving the fate of the bill in the hands of the House. 

Instead of taking up the measure at that time, the House decided against holding a vote on the measure during the Aug. 4 session, in large part due to pushback and demonstrations from hemp producers and retailers. The lack of a vote on the measure means that the bill will not be considered until November. 

The formal biennial legislative cycle that started in 2025 ends on Aug. 31, but there is a brief window following the November elections where lawmakers will return to session. That leaves one final opportunity for lawmakers to vote on the bill that focuses on both kratom and hemp in the state. 

House Speaker Destin Hall said they wanted to “make sure they’re solving the problem” and said he will convene a group of lawmakers to discuss the issue. Following the Aug. 4 session, Hall spoke out about the need to update laws surrounding hemp, but did not specifically address kratom in his remarks. 

“Folks recognize that the current state of our law is not tenable. There are basically no rules. Things being sold shouldn’t be. Things being sold to kids that shouldn’t be sold,” Hall said. “The question is what to do about it.”