Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 534 3
4
By: Senator G. Leding 5
By: Representative Eubanks 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS KRATOM CONSUMER 9
PROTECTION ACT; TO REMOVE MITRAGYNINE AND 7 -10
HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE, ALSO KNOWN AS KRATOM, FROM THE 11
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LIST IN ARKANSAS; AND FOR OTHER 12
PURPOSES. 13
14
15
Subtitle 16
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS KRATOM 17
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT; AND TO REMOVE 18
MITRAGYNINE AND 7-HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE, 19
ALSO KNOWN AS KRATOM, FROM THE 20
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LIST IN ARKANSAS. 21
22
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
24
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 56, is amended to add an 25
additional subchapter to read as follows: 26
Subchapter 5 — Arkansas Kratom Consumer Protection Act 27
28
20-56-501. Title. 29
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Kratom 30
Consumer Protection Act”. 31
32
20-56-502. Legislative findings. 33
The General Assembly finds that: 34
(1) On February 1, 2016, the Department of Health added 35
mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which are two (2) constituent compounds 36 SB534
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of the kratom plant, as Schedule I substances; 1
(2) The Department of Health justified this action on the basis 2
that mitragynine and 7 -hydroxymitragynine induce opioid -like effects when 3
consumed and included kratom as a Schedule I substance since it has no 4
approved medical use by the United States Food and Drug Administration; 5
(3)(A) The United States Food and Drug Administration had 6
encouraged every state to ban kratom on the premise that it would be 7
scheduled by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as a 8
controlled substance in 2016 and that Alabama, Wisconsin, Indiana, and 9
Vermont had already classified kratom as a Schedule I substance. 10
(B) Rhode Island also banned kratom in 2017 based on 11
information provided by the United State Food and Drug Administration; 12
(4) On October 13, 2016, the United States Drug Enforcement 13
Administration withdrew the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s 14
scheduling recommendation for kratom, citing insufficient evidence to meet 15
the requirements for classifying mitragynine and 7 -hydroxymitragynine as 16
Schedule I substances; 17
(5) On August 16, 2018, the Assistant Secretary of Health of the 18
United States Department of Health and Human Services withdrew the United 19
States Food and Drug Administration’s second scheduling recommendation for 20
mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as Schedule I substances citing 21
“disappointingly poor evidence and data and a failure to consider overall 22
public health”; 23
(6) On December 1, 2021, the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence 24
at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs rejected the 25
recommendation for international scheduling of mitragynine and 7 -26
hydroxymitragynine citing insufficient evidence to support that action; 27
(7) On February 21, 2023, the Indiana House of Representatives, 28
on a vote of 53-40, passed a repeal of the kratom ban and replaced it with 29
the Kratom Consumer Protection Act; 30
(8)(A) On March 1, 2023, the Vermont Department of Health 31
accepted a petition by the American Kratom Association to remove the kratom 32
ban. 33
(B) Upon completion of the planned rulemaking of the 34
Vermont Department of Health, the number of states with a kratom ban has been 35
reduced to five (5) states; 36 SB534
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(9) On March 10, 2023, the Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board 1
passed a motion affirming to the Wisconsin State Legislature that kratom does 2
not meet the statutorily -mandated eight factors established by the Controlled 3
Substances Act for scheduling despite their view kratom should not be removed 4
from scheduling until more research is available; 5
(10) The Rhode Island Legislature is proceeding with the Kratom 6
Consumer Protection Act after the Interim Director of the Rhode Island 7
Department of Health acknowledged kratom does not meet the criteria for 8
scheduling; 9
(11) At this time, nine (9) states, including Utah, Georgia, 10
Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Virginia, 11
have passed versions of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act; 12
(12) On March 16, 2022, United States Department of Health and 13
Human Services Secretary Becerra, in a letter to Senator Mike Lee and 14
Representative Mark Pocan, acknowledged “knowledge gaps” on kratom and that 15
“kratom-involved overdose deaths have occurred after use of adulterated 16
kratom products or taking kratom with other substances”; 17
(13) On December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the FY23 18
Omnibus with kratom report language commending the National Institute on Drug 19
Abuse for funding studies on kratom that “may provide help for some Americans 20
struggling with addictions, given its analgesic and less addictive properties 21
as compared to opioids”; 22
(14)(A) Data from the Department of Health shows that fatal 23
opioid overdoses have been on the rise in recent years. 24
(B) In 2021, the Department of Health reported there were 25
six hundred twenty-eight (628) drug overdose deaths in Arkansas; and 26
(15)(A) On May 17, 2022, the Director of the National Institute 27
on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, testified regarding the drug overdose crisis 28
at a hearing of the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 29
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. 30
(B) When asked about overdose prevention strategies, Dr. 31
Volkow stated: “There’s also interest in the community to test other products 32
that may serve as harm reduction. For example, the use of kratom, which is 33
sold as tea and that contains a drug molecule that has effects that are 34
similar to a dose of buprenorphine but could be utilized also for decreasing 35
withdrawal or depression.” 36 SB534
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1
20-56-503. Definitions. 2
As used in this subchapter: 3
(1) "Food" means a food, food product, food ingredient, dietary 4
ingredient, dietary supplement, or beverage for human consumption; 5
(2)(A) "Kratom product" means a food containing any part of the 6
leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa or an extract of the plant mitragyna 7
speciosa. 8
(B) A "kratom product" may be manufactured as a powder, 9
capsule, pill, beverage, extract, or other edible form; 10
(3) “Kratom extract” means a food containing any part of the 11
leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa that has been extracted in order to 12
provide more standardized dosing; 13
(4) "Processor" means a person who sells, prepares, 14
manufactures, distributes, or maintains kratom products or advertises, 15
represents, or holds itself out as selling, preparing, or maintaining kratom 16
products; and 17
(5) “Retailer” means a person that sells, distributes, 18
advertises, represents, or holds itself out as selling or maintaining kratom 19
products. 20
21
20-56-504. Kratom product limitations. 22
A processor shall not prepare, distribute, sell, or expose for sale any 23
of the following: 24
(1) A kratom product that: 25
(A)(i) Is adulterated with a dangerous non -kratom 26
substance. 27
(ii) A kratom product is adulterated with a 28
dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product is mixed or packed with 29
a non-kratom substance and that substance affects the quality or strength of 30
the kratom product to such a degree as to render the kratom product injurious 31
to a consumer; 32
(B)(i) Is contaminated with a dangerous non -kratom 33
substance. 34
(ii) A kratom product is contaminated with a 35
dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product contains a poisonous or 36 SB534
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otherwise deleterious non -kratom ingredient, including without limitation the 1
substances listed in the state’s controlled substances list; 2
(C) Contains: 3
(i) A level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid 4
fraction that is greater than one percent (1%) of the overall alkaloid 5
composition of the product; or 6
(ii) Any synthetic alkaloids including synthetic 7
mitragynine, synthetic 7 -hydroxymitragynine, or any other synthetically 8
derived compounds of the kratom plant; 9
(2) A kratom extract that contains levels of residual solvents 10
higher than is allowed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia Chapter 467; or 11
(3) A kratom product or kratom extract that does not provide 12
adequate labeling directions necessary for safe use by consumers, including a 13
recommended serving size, the recommended number of servings per day, and the 14
number of servings in the package that is sold. 15
16
20-56-505. Age limits. 17
A processor or retailer shall not distribute, sell, or expose for sale 18
a kratom product to an individual under eighteen (18) years of age. 19
20
20-56-506. Processor registration. 21
(a)(1) A processor shall register annually with the Department of 22
Agriculture any kratom product or kratom extract intended to be offered for 23
sale to an end consumer that is in an approved kratom delivery form and pay a 24
fee that is adjusted annually to cover all administrative costs for 25
processing and administering the registrations. 26
(2) The registration shall include a certificate of analysis 27
from a certified independent third -party laboratory showing compliance with 28
the requirements for kratom products or kratom extracts in this subchapter. 29
(b)(1) Upon receipt of a credible report of noncompliance with this 30
subchapter on a kratom product or kratom extract offered for sale, the 31
department shall require the processor to produce an updated and current 32
certificate of analysis in a reasonable time frame from a certified 33
independent third-party laboratory showing compliance with the requirements 34
of this subchapter for safe kratom products or kratom extracts. 35
(2) If the processor does not provide the certificate of 36 SB534
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analysis in subdivision (b)(1) of this section in the specified time frame, 1
the registration for that kratom product or kratom extract shall be revoked. 2
(c)(1) Upon receipt of any adverse event related to a registered 3
kratom product or kratom extract, the processor shall submit a copy of the 4
adverse event report via certified mail to the department that is required to 5
be submitted to the United States Food and Drug Administration under Section 6
761 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 7
(2) The department may revoke the kratom product’s or kratom 8
extract's registration for any documented failure to report an adverse event 9
to the department. 10
(d)(1) If the department has a reasonable basis to require an 11
independent third-party test of a registered kratom product or kratom extract 12
by a laboratory of the department’s choice, the processor shall be required 13
to submit payment for the test within a reasonable time frame. 14
(2) If the processor does not tender payment to the department 15
within a set time period upon receipt of the invoice for the testing, the 16
department shall revoke the registration for that kratom product or kratom 17
extract. 18
19
20-56-507. Violations. 20
(a)(1) A processor that violates this subchapter is subject to an 21
administrative fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) for the 22
first offense and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a second or 23
subsequent offense. 24
(2) Upon the request of a person to whom an administrative fine 25
is issued, the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall conduct a 26
hearing in accordance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25 -27
15-201 et seq. 28
(b) A retailer does not violate this subchapter if it is shown by a 29
preponderance of the evidence that the retailer relied in good faith upon the 30
representations of a processor of food represented to be a kratom product or 31
kratom extract. 32
33
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36