Is Kratom Legal in Iowa in 2023?

Iowa is the 29^th of the U.S. It owes its name to Ioway, a Native American tribe that once used to live there. Iowa is the largest producer of corn in the country and the state with more hogs than humans.

If you are familiar with the American Gothic painting from the 1930s, which features a farmer and his daughter standing in front of a house, now that the house is inspired by a house that the painter, Grant Wood, saw and sketched in Eldon, Iowa. The painter was surprised that such a modest Midwestern house had such fancy windows and painted it along with the people he imagined living there.

Do you eat toast for breakfast? You have to thank Iowa for that. It was an Iowan who invented the device for slicing loaves of bread.

And surprisingly enough, Southern Iowa is the center of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian guru, started a non-profit organization and a private educational facility called Maharishi International University.

It offers a variety of degrees in art, business, sustainable living, health, Ayurveda, Vedic science, and more, and includes the continuous practice of Transcendental Meditation.

So, if Iowa houses a private university that focuses on health and consciousness-based education, what does it think of kratom? Let’s see whether kratom is legal in Iowa or not.

Is Kratom Legal in Iowa?

Kratom is legal in the state of Iowa. In 2014, the Iowa Senate received a bill that proposed to ban kratom and criminalize its sales and possession. But, due to activism from kratom supporters, the bill did not pass.

In early 2014, Iowa Legislators received a bill that proposed criminalizing kratom. The bill stated that kratom was a hallucinogenic substance with high abuse potential that had no proven medical benefits. The bill aimed to include kratom in the controlled substance act among Schedule I drugs.

However, kratom supporters filed a petition in support of kratom. They pointed out that kratom is a herb from the Rubiaceae or coffee family.

They also indicated that according to peer-reviewed studies that existed at the time, kratom had as much potential for abuse and addiction as coffee. A few years later, in 2017, scientists actually released an 8-factor analysis of kratom that proved the same. This indicated that the bill was planning to outlaw kratom on false claims.

In the petition, kratom supporters also stated that kratom had caused no deaths. While the FDA attributes a number of deaths to kratom, several news articles (such as this, this, this, and this) indicate that the statements of these deaths are inconclusive.

While kratom was present in the autopsy results, it wasn’t the only substance that the diseased had taken. Other substances present in their blood had high abuse potential and risk of death.

Eventually, the bill did not pass, leaving kratom legal in Iowa.

Will Iowa Regulate Kratom?

In addition to the statements above, kratom supporters called for regulations for kratom though it never happened.

The American Kratom Association (AKA) is targeting a number of states where it hopes to introduce the Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA). Since there have been no active efforts to ban kratom in Iowa in the past years, the state isn’t among the priority states where the AKA lobbies the KCPA.

It does not mean that the KCPA won’t come to Iowa. The AKA aims to target all states eventually. However, it has chosen to initially focus on states that have banned kratom or where kratom legality is in much larger danger.

Where to Buy Kratom in Iowa?

It is possible to buy kratom in smoke, vape, and herb shops in Des Moines, the capital, as well as the most populous city in the state, and some other cities across Iowa.

However, since kratom remains unregulated, we recommend that Iowans buy kratom online from reputable vendors. Such vendors advertise and represent kratom properly as well as lab-test their products regularly.

These practices ensure that you buy kratom that is pure and consistent in quality.

Moreover, since online vendors do not need to cover the overhead and transportation costs that local vendors face, their kratom tends to be much fresher and have lower costs.

For more information on kratom legality in your state, as well as the latest kratom legality map, you can consult this blog post.