UTAH, KANSAS MOVE TO RESTRICT KRATOM ACCESS

A pair of states recently took actions to limit or ban kratom sales, despite the best efforts of advocates and responsible kratom consumers.

Utah and Kansas became the latest states to reject robust regulations in favor of banning certain products. The change in Utah will limit where kratom can be sold, including online sales, while lawmakers in Kansas have made the primary alkaloid in natural leaf kratom a Schedule I substance. Those changes will affect how customers can access responsibly produced, natural leaf kratom products in both states.

The restrictions in Utah will go into effect on May 6, while kratom consumers in Kansas have until July 1 to adhere to the newly passed restrictions on access to the plant. In our continued efforts to honor local laws, Super Speciosa will stop selling kratom products in those states when the restrictions take effect.

Paths to Prohibition

Utah was the first of the two states to put up barriers to kratom products.

It appeared that advocates had pushed back against any ban in the state, but when the proposed bill passed in the state Senate, more restrictive measures were introduced in the Utah House of Representatives. Rather than revert to an outright ban, the bill changed where kratom could be sold, increased the age of purchase to 21, and instituted a ban on both extracts and products that are synthetically derived from kratom.

Although the bill did create a period for kratom retailers in the state to adhere to the new regulations banning 7-OH products, it did not create a similar situation for retailers and businesses selling natural leaf kratom or extracts derived from natural kratom leaf.

That means that when the bill takes effect, natural leaf kratom sales in the state will be restricted to retailers who meet the guidelines to sell such products.

In Kansas, a similar story played out as lawmakers snuck a full kratom ban in alongside legislation aimed at combating 7-OH.

The scheduling saga in Kansas began on Apr. 10, when Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill that made 7-OH a Schedule I substance in the state. At the time, Kelly acknowledged that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was still working on "determining whether kratom is safe and effective" and indicated that the action against 7-OH was to "safeguard the health of Kansans."

Kelly did not mention natural leaf kratom in that press release, nor did she mention that the FDA had drawn a clear line between 7-OH and natural leaf kratom. On the same day, a bill that had nothing to do with kratom policy or controlled substances was amended to add mitragynine to the list of Schedule I substances.

Rather than run that change through the formal legislative process, the amendment was added by a conference committee report, and it added a full kratom ban to a bill originally intended to change how physical therapists performed blood tests. What started as a two-page bill on healthcare costs became an 18-page proposal that addressed a variety of criminal statutes.

Although kratom advocates pushed back against that bill, Kelly signed it into law on Apr. 27.

Without a single hearing or a formal opportunity for the public to push back on the bill, Kansas quietly made all forms of kratom illegal in the state. Kelly did not even put out a formal press release on the bill; instead, the formal announcement was inserted at the end of a statement about a bill on tax credits for child care.

Positive Pushback in South Carolina

The drastic actions taken in both Utah and Kansas do not mean that kratom consumers have lost their power to influence lawmakers.

Less than a year after passing its version of a Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA), legislators in South Carolina introduced a similar attempt to flip regulations into prohibition. Despite the best efforts of lawmakers to switch the stance on kratom, pushback from the public prevented the original version of the bill from being considered on the floor of the House.

Before the bill reached committee, a pair of subcommittee hearings gave legislators a chance to hear directly from constituents. That testimony led a legislator to shift the proposed bill in favor of natural leaf kratom. Rep. Thomas Brittain introduced an amendment to the House Judiciary Committee to replace the proposed ban with a bill targeting 7-OH.

Brittain made it clear — the responsible kratom consumers he heard from switched his position on kratom. Other legislators on that committee also spoke out on behalf of the "reasonable people" who testified in favor of natural leaf kratom. That combined effort led to the passage of Brittain's amendment that replaced the proposed ban.

When the bill returned to the House floor, legislators tried again to revert it to a ban. A margin of nine votes defeated that effort.

Without the pushback from the public, South Carolina could have joined the list of states restricting access to kratom. Instead, the kratom consumers who took the time to reach out to their representatives preserved the KCPA in the state and scored a major win for those who advocate for regulation instead of prohibition.

For the latest on kratom legality in Utah, Kansas, South Carolina, and other states, visit our kratom legality map.