UTAH OPTS FOR INCREASED KRATOM REGULATIONS FOLLOWING LEGISLATIVE BACK-AND-FORTH

A late detour on a kratom law in Utah turned a bill aimed at strengthening safeguards into a restrictive new approach to regulating the plant. 

Lawmakers in Utah started with an attempt to criminalize all forms of kratom, then pulled back in favor of reasonable regulations before taking one final turn toward limiting access for customers in the state. That bill has now been signed into law by the governor, adding a legal hurdle for responsible kratom producers and customers who were already adhering to the first Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) in the country.

In the end, S.B. 45 was substituted four times and had one version rejected by lawmakers during its journey to the governor’s desk. The law would have made all forms of kratom a scheduled substance in its original format. Instead, a substitute was adopted that would have raised the age requirement for purchase from 18 to 21 and removed kratom from the shelves of convenience stores. 

Before passing the Senate, the bill was amended for a second time to include strict limits on the amount of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) allowed in a product labeled as kratom. The substitute bill passed by a vote of 29-0.

Restrictive Regulations

What emerged was a bill that made “pure kratom leaf” the only form of allowable products, targeted all kratom extracts, regardless of chemical composition, and contained one of the most restrictive 7-OH limits (0.4% of the total alkaloid content) among states that have passed versions of a KCPA. The new version of the bill also imposed increased taxes, a licensing requirement for retailers, and limited kratom sales to stores that had retail tobacco specialty business licenses.

Another substitution took place in the House that allowed kratom producers a period of one year to adhere to the new standards and regulations. A majority of the debate on the bill ultimately took place on the floor of the House of Representatives. 

Rep. Katy Hall was the sponsor of the bill in the House and made her case against kratom. Although some elements of Hall’s testimony matched available science, there were other parts of the case made against kratom that cut corners. 

“The reason that opioid addicts are susceptible is that kratom acts on the opioid receptors in the body, it creates a dependence,” Hall said. “Many in the Senate and in the House have been working on this bill, and we’ve had conversations with experts…when people say it’s not an opioid, it’s just not true.” 

The part that Hall left out of her testimony was a differentiation between natural leaf kratom, specifically its primary alkaloid mitragynine, and products with elevated levels of 7-OH. Natural kratom contains 7-OH in trace amounts, whereas other products labeled as kratom artificially elevate the levels of 7-OH.

Hall referred to dangerous products as “extracted and adulterated” kratom products, but did not directly address 7-OH in her statements. Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, who was advocating in favor of the bill, referenced  “compounded” and “adulterated” but did not mention synthetic products or 7-OH by name. 

Pushback on Proposed Law

Whether it was intentional or not, the lack of clarity by those in favor of the bill stands in opposition to the position taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Last year, the FDA announced plans to pursue the process of scheduling 7-OH and specifically differentiated between natural kratom products and those with elevated levels of 7-OH. The FDA also made it clear that 7-OH products had the chemical profile of a classic opioid, while natural leaf kratom products were labeled as "partial agonists" of the opioid centers of the brain. The AHPA has similarly warned against labeling 7-OH products as kratom, reinforcing that distinction at the industry level.

That differentiation is why the FDA is seeking a policy specifically targeting 7-OH, and why some in the Utah House of Representatives spoke out against the proposed bill, including Rep. Trevor Lee. 

“It looks like we are picking on an industry that has sold over 33 million products in the last five years,” Lee said. “We clearly understand at this point what the underlying problem is. It is not kratom; it is 7-OH, it is the synthetic version that is the issue. I don’t know of anything else where we say hey, we know what the issue is, so we’re just going to get rid of anything that has to do with this instead of the actual problem.” 

The only formal pushback against the proposed bill came from Rep. Matt MacPherson, who introduced a substitute bill that would insert religious guidance on substance use in place of the specific law on kratom. MacPherson’s point was that the legislature had a history of taxing and regulating substances that cause harm, rather than outright banning them. 

Although the House quickly voted down that proposed substitute, MacPherson did properly identify 7-OH and “synthetics” as the real issue and offered pushback to Hall’s framing of the dangers presented by kratom. 

In defense of the proposed bill, Hall made it clear that she had consulted with state agencies and her constituents when deciding to target kratom. That led to a direct question by Rep. Karianne Lisonbee about one group left out of negotiations. 

“There’s been a lot of chatter about this bill, and there’s a lot of concern that there’s been a failure to have conversations with the industry,” Lisonbee said. “I have concerns with the process. I appreciate the motivation behind this, but I also have concerns…the Utah way is to include all parties.” 

Hall testified that she did not have any direct contact with industry advocates. 

“I cannot speak to that. I’m not sure of all the conversations that have happened with the industry and the sponsor,” Hall said. 

The bill passed the House by a vote of 63-2 (with two abstentions). The Senate adopted those changes, and the bill passed by a vote of 26-0 (three abstentions). 

Gov. Spencer Cox signed the bill on Mar. 26. The changes to the bill allow kratom producers to sell certain products that are now banned until Mar. 27, 2027, as long as the products are sold out of state. 

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