Is kratom legal where you live in the United States?
This question of the legality of kratom (mitragyna speciosa) in America comes up often. People want to know if there are laws against kratom selling and possession in their area.
The FDA and Big Pharma have launched a war against kratom, probably due to how it’s a major competitor to pharmaceutical company opioids, anti-depressants, and benzos. It seems to be a situation where kratom use can potentially decrease the profits of large pharmaceutical companies, so they band together to fight against kratom. They lobby Congress and get the FDA to be on their side against kratom. The latest tactic has been to coerce Indonesia, the #1 supplier of kratom to the United States, to stop growing and shipping kratom to America. We shall be watching this situation closely.
A while ago, in 2016, the FDA almost succeeded in banning kratom by scheduling it as a dangerous, medically useless drug, in the same Schedule 1 classification as heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, and other drugs. But kratom users rose up in mass in activist protest, helped by conscientious doctors and the AKA (American Kratom Association) — and this unfair and unscientific initiative was derailed as a federal policy.
Many kratom advocates want the FDA to regulate kratom as a dietary supplement, with no curative medical claims, so as to ensure the purity of kratom as a legitimate herbal substance.
The AKA is asking vendors to 3rd party test their kratom products and keep the safety, quality, and purity high. Contaminated kratom, or impure kratom with other psychotropic (mind altering) drugs added to it covertly, can result in serious health problems, which may cause the government to crack down on kratom sales and consumer usage.
It’s best to find a good, reliable kratom vendor, online or in your neighborhood, rather than buy dubious products at gas station or tobacco shops, where the prices tend to be higher and the purity is questionable.
Now, with that as a background, let’s address the issue of “is kratom legal where I live?”
The law concerning kratom is in flux, frequently changing. So it’s best to do your own research on your specific town, county, and state. For kratom may be largely a legal product in a state, but there are certain cities in that state where there may be laws against kratom.
For example, as of June 2019, kratom was legal in the state of Florida, except for Sarasota County…and kratom was legal in the state of California, but not in San Diego…and kratom was legal in the state of Colorado, but not in Denver.
In some case too, the law applies to people over the age of 18 years old. If you’re younger than that, it may be illegal for you to buy, sell, or possess kratom.
So you really have to look for information on your own age and your exact locality to determine if kratom is lawful or not.
You should do an internet search on “kratom legal [your city, county, state] [year]”. This key phrase should provide you with the latest facts about whether or not kratom has been criminalized where you live.
You may also refer to this American Kratom Association list of states and kratom legality.
