[Latest update: November 2020]
Spring, 2019, came with a new term in the kratom world. The Kratom Consumer Protection Act. Just a few weeks prior, no one knew about it. Suddenly, about a dozen states were considering it, and it was popping in the news at least every other day.
So, you may be wondering what the Kratom Consumer Protection Act is and what’s the big deal about it.
Therefore, we’ve done some research to answer all of your questions about the Kratom Consumer Protection Act.
What Is Kratom Consumer Protection Act?
The Kratom Consumer Protection Act or KCPA for short is a bill that intends to regulate kratom and ensure safe access to it in individual states.
Developed by representatives of the American Kratom Association (AKA) and the Botanical Education Alliance (BEA), it intends to make kratom use as safe as possible for the consumer and prevent any negative incidents such as contamination or adulteration that could potentially push the authorities to ban kratom in the entire US.
The Kratom Consumer Protection Act covers the production, sales, possession, and labeling requirements of kratom. It also defines an age limit for kratom sales, possession, as well as the use of kratom.
Some of the statements proposed in it are:
- Production, sales, and distribution of adulterated, contaminated, or otherwise unsafe kratom products cannot be sold.
- Only individuals over the age of 18 can buy kratom.
- All kratom products need to be labeled and disclose the content of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.
- Kratom vendors cannot produce, import, or sell any kratom products that have more than 2% of 7-hydroxymitragynine of the total alkaloid content.
- Vendors must state the contents of any kratom product, the exact alkaloid content, and the origin of the product.
- Producing, selling, or distributing contaminated, adulterated, or otherwise unsafe kratom or kratom products leads to fines or incarceration.
The AKA presents the Kratom Consumer Protection Act and lobbies it in individual states. It is a guideline to educate the authorities and serve as a guideline to what is important to make kratom safe for the consumers. However, states can modify and amend it.
While it appears that the Kratom Consumer Protection Act came out of the blue and seemingly overnight, it’s not actually the case. The AKA and the BEA were looking for ways to ensure that kratom remains legal yet is also safe to users for a long time.
Why Do We Need the Kratom Consumer Protection Act?
In 2016, the DEA announced its intent to ban kratom in the entire country. This received a massive backlash from the kratom community. Kratom users and supporters expressed their strong support for the herb in a variety of ways such as signing petitions, leaving comments, and sending letters to the DEA.
In the meantime, regulating kratom nationwide as a medication or dietary supplement would be much harder, more expensive, or even impossible. To make it a regulated drug with approved medical properties, it would require decades of research and study and millions or possibly billions of dollars.
While the University Of Florida College Of Pharmacy received a $3.5 million grant for 2 years of kratom study and another 5-year grant worth $3.4 million, that alone will most likely not be enough.
In addition to that, if kratom was truly recognized by the FDA, we do not know how that would affect the price of kratom and availability. The UF team studying kratom has already concluded that kratom may be beneficial in overcoming opioid addiction. As a result, it may simply become another expensive drug that the masses cannot afford.
Kratom also does not completely comply with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 which would be able to recognize kratom as a dietary supplement. While the AKA made a step forward by developing its Good Manufacturing Practices in 2018, the AKA’s meeting request is still being ignored by the FDA.
The Good Manufacturing Practices program or GMP also has its flaws. It’s completely voluntary, and incompliance with it simply leads to losing the GMP status. Vendors do not actually get punished by fines or otherwise for improper actions.
So, the fact the Kratom Consumer Protection Act is being positively received by many states, is excellent news.
Which States Have Signed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act?
Utah became the first state to regulate kratom. The Utah Senate reviewed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act and passed it on March 26, 2019.
Arizona passed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act a month later, in April 2019. So did Georgia.
Nevada joined the states that regulate kratom a month later.

Which States Are Currently Reviewing the Kratom Consumer Protection Act?
According to the AKA, in November 2020, about a dozen states are considering the Kratom Consumer Protection Act. Even more are being planned to be targeted.
The states that are currently reviewing or considering the Kratom Consumer Protection Act or their own variation of it are:
- Rhode Island – kratom is currently illegal in Rhode Island, there is a bill that may reverse the ban
- Vermont – kratom is currently illegal in Vermont, there is a bill that may reverse the ban
- Missouri
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- New York
Rhode Island where kratom is currently illegal was already considering the KCPA once but the bill died in committee. Hopefully, this attempt succeeds.
Oregon also had a bill on regulating kratom, but they decided not to do it at the time. Maine, New Hampshire, and Kansas also had KCPA bills, but they failed.
What Can Kratom Supporters Do?
While the AKA is doing what it can to ensure that kratom buyers have safe and easy access to the herb, it’s a non-profit organization that is limited by budget. Therefore, it requires support from the kratom community to keep lobbying the Kratom Consumer Protection Act in more states.
If you would like to make sure that kratom remains legal and is regulated in your state, you can do a variety of things.
First of all, you can donate money to the AKA. It can help them lobby it across more states in the US. Here is a relevant link:
Secondly, you can sign any petitions that intend to keep kratom legal. Many petitions are filed via Change.org platform. You can keep an eye on those in your state. You can also join a kratom supporter group, where you can get quick access to any action from other kratom supporters.
Finally, you can make a statement by choosing to buy kratom from a vendor who cares about the future of kratom and keeping it legal. Make sure to thoroughly research whom you choose to buy kratom from.
If you aren’t quite sure whom to buy kratom from, we outline our tips on how you can avoid kratom buying mistakes in our Kratom Buying Guide that you can download from us or free. We’ll send it to you in exchange for your e-mail.
Rest assured that your email address will be safe with us. We’ll only use it to send you updates on new blog posts on kratom, kratom legality news, any important petitions that are active, and any other interesting bits of information that we found online.
[Latest update: November 2020]
What do you think of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act? Have you heard any news about kratom legality in your state? We make sure to include the latest information on it. However, if we have missed anything, feel free to leave a comment below and let us know.