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Arkansas Senate Bill SB534

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB534 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
22 *JMB567* 03/20/2025 12:06:46 PM JMB567
33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 534 3
66 4
77 By: Senator G. Leding 5
88 By: Representative Eubanks 6
99 7
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1111 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS KRATOM CONSUMER 9
1212 PROTECTION ACT; TO REMOVE MITRAGYNINE AND 7 -10
1313 HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE, ALSO KNOWN AS KRATOM, FROM THE 11
1414 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LIST IN ARKANSAS; AND FOR OTHER 12
1515 PURPOSES. 13
1616 14
1717 15
1818 Subtitle 16
1919 TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS KRATOM 17
2020 CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT; AND TO REMOVE 18
2121 MITRAGYNINE AND 7-HYDROXYMITRAGYNINE, 19
2222 ALSO KNOWN AS KRATOM, FROM THE 20
2323 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LIST IN ARKANSAS. 21
2424 22
2525 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
2626 24
2727 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 56, is amended to add an 25
2828 additional subchapter to read as follows: 26
2929 Subchapter 5 — Arkansas Kratom Consumer Protection Act 27
3030 28
3131 20-56-501. Title. 29
3232 This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Kratom 30
3333 Consumer Protection Act”. 31
3434 32
3535 20-56-502. Legislative findings. 33
3636 The General Assembly finds that: 34
3737 (1) On February 1, 2016, the Department of Health added 35
3838 mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which are two (2) constituent compounds 36 SB534
3939
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4141 of the kratom plant, as Schedule I substances; 1
4242 (2) The Department of Health justified this action on the basis 2
4343 that mitragynine and 7 -hydroxymitragynine induce opioid -like effects when 3
4444 consumed and included kratom as a Schedule I substance since it has no 4
4545 approved medical use by the United States Food and Drug Administration; 5
4646 (3)(A) The United States Food and Drug Administration had 6
4747 encouraged every state to ban kratom on the premise that it would be 7
4848 scheduled by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as a 8
4949 controlled substance in 2016 and that Alabama, Wisconsin, Indiana, and 9
5050 Vermont had already classified kratom as a Schedule I substance. 10
5151 (B) Rhode Island also banned kratom in 2017 based on 11
5252 information provided by the United State Food and Drug Administration; 12
5353 (4) On October 13, 2016, the United States Drug Enforcement 13
5454 Administration withdrew the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s 14
5555 scheduling recommendation for kratom, citing insufficient evidence to meet 15
5656 the requirements for classifying mitragynine and 7 -hydroxymitragynine as 16
5757 Schedule I substances; 17
5858 (5) On August 16, 2018, the Assistant Secretary of Health of the 18
5959 United States Department of Health and Human Services withdrew the United 19
6060 States Food and Drug Administration’s second scheduling recommendation for 20
6161 mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as Schedule I substances citing 21
6262 “disappointingly poor evidence and data and a failure to consider overall 22
6363 public health”; 23
6464 (6) On December 1, 2021, the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence 24
6565 at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs rejected the 25
6666 recommendation for international scheduling of mitragynine and 7 -26
6767 hydroxymitragynine citing insufficient evidence to support that action; 27
6868 (7) On February 21, 2023, the Indiana House of Representatives, 28
6969 on a vote of 53-40, passed a repeal of the kratom ban and replaced it with 29
7070 the Kratom Consumer Protection Act; 30
7171 (8)(A) On March 1, 2023, the Vermont Department of Health 31
7272 accepted a petition by the American Kratom Association to remove the kratom 32
7373 ban. 33
7474 (B) Upon completion of the planned rulemaking of the 34
7575 Vermont Department of Health, the number of states with a kratom ban has been 35
7676 reduced to five (5) states; 36 SB534
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7979 (9) On March 10, 2023, the Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board 1
8080 passed a motion affirming to the Wisconsin State Legislature that kratom does 2
8181 not meet the statutorily -mandated eight factors established by the Controlled 3
8282 Substances Act for scheduling despite their view kratom should not be removed 4
8383 from scheduling until more research is available; 5
8484 (10) The Rhode Island Legislature is proceeding with the Kratom 6
8585 Consumer Protection Act after the Interim Director of the Rhode Island 7
8686 Department of Health acknowledged kratom does not meet the criteria for 8
8787 scheduling; 9
8888 (11) At this time, nine (9) states, including Utah, Georgia, 10
8989 Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Virginia, 11
9090 have passed versions of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act; 12
9191 (12) On March 16, 2022, United States Department of Health and 13
9292 Human Services Secretary Becerra, in a letter to Senator Mike Lee and 14
9393 Representative Mark Pocan, acknowledged “knowledge gaps” on kratom and that 15
9494 “kratom-involved overdose deaths have occurred after use of adulterated 16
9595 kratom products or taking kratom with other substances”; 17
9696 (13) On December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the FY23 18
9797 Omnibus with kratom report language commending the National Institute on Drug 19
9898 Abuse for funding studies on kratom that “may provide help for some Americans 20
9999 struggling with addictions, given its analgesic and less addictive properties 21
100100 as compared to opioids”; 22
101101 (14)(A) Data from the Department of Health shows that fatal 23
102102 opioid overdoses have been on the rise in recent years. 24
103103 (B) In 2021, the Department of Health reported there were 25
104104 six hundred twenty-eight (628) drug overdose deaths in Arkansas; and 26
105105 (15)(A) On May 17, 2022, the Director of the National Institute 27
106106 on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, testified regarding the drug overdose crisis 28
107107 at a hearing of the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 29
108108 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. 30
109109 (B) When asked about overdose prevention strategies, Dr. 31
110110 Volkow stated: “There’s also interest in the community to test other products 32
111111 that may serve as harm reduction. For example, the use of kratom, which is 33
112112 sold as tea and that contains a drug molecule that has effects that are 34
113113 similar to a dose of buprenorphine but could be utilized also for decreasing 35
114114 withdrawal or depression.” 36 SB534
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117117 1
118118 20-56-503. Definitions. 2
119119 As used in this subchapter: 3
120120 (1) "Food" means a food, food product, food ingredient, dietary 4
121121 ingredient, dietary supplement, or beverage for human consumption; 5
122122 (2)(A) "Kratom product" means a food containing any part of the 6
123123 leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa or an extract of the plant mitragyna 7
124124 speciosa. 8
125125 (B) A "kratom product" may be manufactured as a powder, 9
126126 capsule, pill, beverage, extract, or other edible form; 10
127127 (3) “Kratom extract” means a food containing any part of the 11
128128 leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa that has been extracted in order to 12
129129 provide more standardized dosing; 13
130130 (4) "Processor" means a person who sells, prepares, 14
131131 manufactures, distributes, or maintains kratom products or advertises, 15
132132 represents, or holds itself out as selling, preparing, or maintaining kratom 16
133133 products; and 17
134134 (5) “Retailer” means a person that sells, distributes, 18
135135 advertises, represents, or holds itself out as selling or maintaining kratom 19
136136 products. 20
137137 21
138138 20-56-504. Kratom product limitations. 22
139139 A processor shall not prepare, distribute, sell, or expose for sale any 23
140140 of the following: 24
141141 (1) A kratom product that: 25
142142 (A)(i) Is adulterated with a dangerous non -kratom 26
143143 substance. 27
144144 (ii) A kratom product is adulterated with a 28
145145 dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product is mixed or packed with 29
146146 a non-kratom substance and that substance affects the quality or strength of 30
147147 the kratom product to such a degree as to render the kratom product injurious 31
148148 to a consumer; 32
149149 (B)(i) Is contaminated with a dangerous non -kratom 33
150150 substance. 34
151151 (ii) A kratom product is contaminated with a 35
152152 dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product contains a poisonous or 36 SB534
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155155 otherwise deleterious non -kratom ingredient, including without limitation the 1
156156 substances listed in the state’s controlled substances list; 2
157157 (C) Contains: 3
158158 (i) A level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid 4
159159 fraction that is greater than one percent (1%) of the overall alkaloid 5
160160 composition of the product; or 6
161161 (ii) Any synthetic alkaloids including synthetic 7
162162 mitragynine, synthetic 7 -hydroxymitragynine, or any other synthetically 8
163163 derived compounds of the kratom plant; 9
164164 (2) A kratom extract that contains levels of residual solvents 10
165165 higher than is allowed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia Chapter 467; or 11
166166 (3) A kratom product or kratom extract that does not provide 12
167167 adequate labeling directions necessary for safe use by consumers, including a 13
168168 recommended serving size, the recommended number of servings per day, and the 14
169169 number of servings in the package that is sold. 15
170170 16
171171 20-56-505. Age limits. 17
172172 A processor or retailer shall not distribute, sell, or expose for sale 18
173173 a kratom product to an individual under eighteen (18) years of age. 19
174174 20
175175 20-56-506. Processor registration. 21
176176 (a)(1) A processor shall register annually with the Department of 22
177177 Agriculture any kratom product or kratom extract intended to be offered for 23
178178 sale to an end consumer that is in an approved kratom delivery form and pay a 24
179179 fee that is adjusted annually to cover all administrative costs for 25
180180 processing and administering the registrations. 26
181181 (2) The registration shall include a certificate of analysis 27
182182 from a certified independent third -party laboratory showing compliance with 28
183183 the requirements for kratom products or kratom extracts in this subchapter. 29
184184 (b)(1) Upon receipt of a credible report of noncompliance with this 30
185185 subchapter on a kratom product or kratom extract offered for sale, the 31
186186 department shall require the processor to produce an updated and current 32
187187 certificate of analysis in a reasonable time frame from a certified 33
188188 independent third-party laboratory showing compliance with the requirements 34
189189 of this subchapter for safe kratom products or kratom extracts. 35
190190 (2) If the processor does not provide the certificate of 36 SB534
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193193 analysis in subdivision (b)(1) of this section in the specified time frame, 1
194194 the registration for that kratom product or kratom extract shall be revoked. 2
195195 (c)(1) Upon receipt of any adverse event related to a registered 3
196196 kratom product or kratom extract, the processor shall submit a copy of the 4
197197 adverse event report via certified mail to the department that is required to 5
198198 be submitted to the United States Food and Drug Administration under Section 6
199199 761 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 7
200200 (2) The department may revoke the kratom product’s or kratom 8
201201 extract's registration for any documented failure to report an adverse event 9
202202 to the department. 10
203203 (d)(1) If the department has a reasonable basis to require an 11
204204 independent third-party test of a registered kratom product or kratom extract 12
205205 by a laboratory of the department’s choice, the processor shall be required 13
206206 to submit payment for the test within a reasonable time frame. 14
207207 (2) If the processor does not tender payment to the department 15
208208 within a set time period upon receipt of the invoice for the testing, the 16
209209 department shall revoke the registration for that kratom product or kratom 17
210210 extract. 18
211211 19
212212 20-56-507. Violations. 20
213213 (a)(1) A processor that violates this subchapter is subject to an 21
214214 administrative fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) for the 22
215215 first offense and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a second or 23
216216 subsequent offense. 24
217217 (2) Upon the request of a person to whom an administrative fine 25
218218 is issued, the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall conduct a 26
219219 hearing in accordance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25 -27
220220 15-201 et seq. 28
221221 (b) A retailer does not violate this subchapter if it is shown by a 29
222222 preponderance of the evidence that the retailer relied in good faith upon the 30
223223 representations of a processor of food represented to be a kratom product or 31
224224 kratom extract. 32
225225 33
226226 34
227227 35
228228 36