Rhode Island May Decriminalize and Regulate Kratom

While kratom is legal in most US states, Rhode Island is among a few of the states that decided to ban kratom. However, this can change in the near future. A new bill may decriminalize and regulate kratom in Rhode Island.

Kratom Ban in Rhode Island

In 2017, the authorities of Rhode Island included the two main kratom alkaloids into the scheduled substances list. A bill to decriminalize kratom in the state was introduced in early 2019. However, it died in committee.

Kratom Consumer Protection Act to Regulate Kratom in Rhode Island

Despite the failure to decriminalize kratom in 2019, kratom supporters did not give up. On January 24, 2020, three democrat sponsors introduced a new bill. It’s been referred to the House of Health, Education, and Welfare Committee.

This bill, also known as the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, will decriminalize kratom and require vendors, distributors, and manufacturers of kratom products to:

• Disclose all ingredients of their kratom products in labels, including the qualities of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine,
• Not include any substances that can be dangerous or are scheduled on the state or federal level,
• Accurately test all kratom products,
• Not sell to anyone under the age of 18,
• sell any kratom products that contain 7-hydroxymitragynine that’s more than 2% of the total alkaloid content,
• not sell products that contain synthetic alkaloids,
• face criminal charges, including fines and imprisonment, in the case of not complying with the state law.

These regulations will drastically decrease or completely eliminate sales of contaminated, low-quality, or adulterated kratom. As a result, Rhode Island inhabitants will have access to pure kratom.

Who Is Behind the Kratom Consumer Protection Act

The Kratom Consumer Protection Act is the initiative of the American Kratom Association or the AKA. It is a non-profit organization which aims to ensure that the American population has access to pure and high-quality kratom.

Since no laws or regulations ensure that on a federal level, negative instances such as the 2018 kratom Salmonella outbreak not only endanger kratom buyers but also add more controversy and negative fame to kratom.

The AKA is willing to end that and targets individual states. It developed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act that it presents to state legislators. Several states have already passed it. They are Utah, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. In addition to those, more than a dozen states are either reviewing or considering regulating kratom. These also include states that have previously outlawed kratom.

If you would like to support the AKA in its efforts to regulate kratom in Rhode Island, you can donate to support its activity, inform people in your state about kratom, and participate in any public hearings where you can voice your experience with kratom.

If you would like to learn more about kratom legality in other US states, refer to this post. In the meantime, this post will inform you about the American Kratom Association and its activities.