The Oklahoma state legislature just passed a bill to update the Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act. The answer to the question “is kratom legal in Oklahoma?” is still yes.
However, there are a few new restrictions that you need to be aware of if you are a kratom consumer or vendor. Plus, it’s important to understand that consumer safety is still limited, given that the law is situated in an imperfect national regulatory landscape.
History of Oklahoma Kratom Legality
Oklahoma legislators introduced HB 1784 to create the Kratom Consumer Protection Act in 2021. This initial law was a boilerplate KCPA. It required product labels to display ingredients, certain alkaloid levels, and suggested instructions for use. It prohibited products containing a level of 7-hydroxymitragynine over two percent of the total alkaloid content as well as products containing any synthetic alkaloids. Further, it set the minimum age to buy kratom in Oklahoma at 18 years old.
Then, in May of 2024, Oklahoma legislators passed HB 3574 to update the original law. So what was lacking in the original law that has now been added? And who pushed to have the stricter regulations passed?
On top of answering these questions, we’ll explain what social issues may have motivated the push for the stricter law and how they could potentially impact kratom regulation at a national scale.
Overview of the Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act
Kratom is legal in Oklahoma as long as kratom products are made and sold following the regulations in the Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act. This updated Oklahoma kratom law will go into effect on November 1, 2024. The Oklahoma kratom law regulates four main components of kratom production and sales: product formulation, testing requirements, packaging/labeling, and age restrictions.
1. Product Formulation Restrictions
Kratom product formulations have to comply with the following:
- 7-hydroxymitragynine cannot be above 1% of the total alkaloid composition of the product.
- In a kratom extract, mitragynine must be the most abundant alkaloid (and the level has to be at least two times higher than the level of any other alkaloid).
- Kratom manufacturers have to follow international guidelines for residual solvents that may be left in products.
- A product cannot contain any synthesized versions of kratom alkaloids or other compounds found in kratom plants.
The total alkaloid composition of a kratom product is defined by the 2024 law as the sum of mitragynine, speciociliatine, speciogynine, paynantheine, and 7-hydroxymitragynine. The level of 7-hydroxymitragynine cannot be more than 1% of the total alkaloid composition. The allowable level was lowered from 2% to 1% in the new Oklahoma kratom law.
This means that in a typical leaf kratom product, where the total alkaloid concentration ranges from around 1%-3% of the total weight of the leaf material, the concentration of 7-hydroxymitragynine can’t be above 0.01%-0.03%.
For the residual solvents regulations, kratom manufacturers selling products in Oklahoma now have to follow the guidelines for residual solvents created by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. That was quite a mouthful, but it’s also known as the ICH. Other KCPAs require manufacturers to follow United States Pharmacopeia guidelines for residual solvents. These U.S. guidelines seem to be fairly well aligned with the ICH’s.
2. Lab Testing Requirement
The new law states that vendors have to provide kratom lab test results to the State Department of Health upon request. The Certificates of Analysis have to come from a United States-based lab. These test results will be used to “confirm the items listed on the product label.”
3. Mandatory Packaging & Labeling Components
Kratom product labels must display the following:
- A list of all ingredients used in the manufacture of the product. They also have to follow any federal allergen labeling requirements.
- A statement that the sale or transfer of kratom to a person under 18 years old is prohibited.
- The amount of total kratom alkaloids, mitragynine, and 7-hydroxymitragynine contained in the product.
- The name and street address of the manufacturer or distributor.
- Clear, thorough directions for safe and effective use, including:
- Serving size
- Number of servings in each container
- Number of servings that can be safely consumed in a day
- Precautionary statements about safety and effectiveness, including:
- A warning that consumers should speak to a healthcare professional with questions about kratom use
- That the kratom product may be habit-forming
- An FDA disclaimer (that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease)
Liquid kratom products also have more specific requirements. Products under 8 ounces with more than three servings per container must have a “calibrated measuring device” like a dropper.
Similarly, packages of kratom powder must have a calibrated measuring device in the container if the powder isn’t packed in capsules.
4. Age Restrictions
Lastly, the law mandates that vendors cannot distribute or sell kratom products to anyone under the age of 18. As we mentioned above, manufacturers also have to display this age restriction on product labels.
Who Worked on the 2024 Oklahoma Kratom Bill
Representative Daniel Pae authored and sponsored House Bill 3574. In an opinion piece he wrote for The Oklahoman in May, Representative Pae explained that the motivation for drafting the new bill was to “better align the KCPA bill that was filed in 2021 to the realities of the kratom marketplace.”
Representative Pae’s bill was drafted in collaboration with the Global Kratom Coalition (GKC), a kratom organization that advocates and lobbies for state kratom legislation.
Why the GKC and the Oklahoma Government Pushed for Stricter Standards
The GKC and members of the OK legislature supported this bill to prevent the sale of contaminated and mislabeled products, including those that are misleadingly marketed as kratom products. Representative Pae wrote that the main goal was to “empower consumers to make more informed decisions.” Like many advocates, he wants to ensure that consumers are aware that not all kratom products are equal.
Skepticism of Concentrated 7-Hydroxymitragynine Products
Products on the market that are derived from kratom leaves vary wildly in their composition and strength. While leaf kratom products are still the most common, the number of highly concentrated alkaloid extracts has risen dramatically. And in the last few months, manufactures have begun to produce extracts containing just 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Many consumer advocates, researchers, healthcare professionals, and industry stakeholders are worried that uneducated consumers will buy 7-hydroxymitragynine products without fully understanding how they differ from kratom leaf products or kratom extracts which primarily contain mitragynine.
Kratom tea and powder have been consumed for decades and kratom extract products have been used for many years. Concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products are novel. There isn’t much anecdotal evidence, let alone clinical evidence, that demonstrates that the amount of 7-hydroxymitragynine people are consuming in 2024 is generally safe.
Testing to Prevent Unexpected or Adverse Reactions
Regardless of a product’s general history of safe use, it still needs to be tested for contaminants and the concentration of its active compounds. That’s why the new law requires vendors to have their kratom tested.
In the past, rumors have gone around that kratom exporters in Southeast Asia have created fake Certificates of Analysis for foreign laboratories to sell their products more easily.
Exporters may sell this untested—and potentially contaminated—kratom by the ton to large kratom companies. They may also sell bulk packages directly to individual consumers in the United States. Plus, it’s possible that foreign labs performing real tests may not do so using the same methods as U.S. labs.
Broader Impacts of the New Oklahoma Kratom Law
While it’s great that the answer to the question, “is kratom legal in Oklahoma” is yes, legality in and of itself doesn’t equate to kratom consumer safety.
Bans in Neighboring States
For one, kratom bans in nearby states create serious challenges for consumers. Across Oklahoma’s eastern border is Arkansas, which banned kratom in 2016. Arkansas was one of a handful of states that added kratom alkaloids to their list of Schedule I controlled substances in 2016 when the FDA announced a potential federal ban. The Department of Health and Human Services found that kratom did not meet the criteria for scheduling and it was never federally banned, but despite this decision, states like Arkansas upheld their bans. This debilitates Oklahomans from visiting or traveling through Arkansas with kratom products.
Related: Can You Fly with Kratom? How to Pack Different Kratom Products for Plane Travel
Unethical Kratom Vendors and Inconsistent Laws
For another, some vendors of kratom leaf or kratom-derived products continue to sell mislabeled or illegally formulated products in states that have enacted consumer protection laws. Some profit-motivated vendors do so intentionally, while others may sell illegal products accidentally.
How could that happen? Because kratom isn’t federally regulated, each state has been left to draft its own legislation. There are over a dozen kratom consumer protection laws across the United States. Each has its own set of regulations. Many of the regulations are the same or similar, but unfortunately some are in conflict and create unnecessary challenges for manufacturers.
For small businesses (like ours), keeping up with kratom regulation in each state is extraordinarily time-consuming. We care deeply about consumer safety and work diligently to regularly update our packaging to follow every state’s regulatory requirements. Yet it’s easy to imagine that vendors that struggle to read through the various legal codes or that don’t have the means to update their packaging on a regular basis may end up accidentally selling products that are mislabeled.
Let’s Keep the Regulatory Ball Rolling
To combat these issues, we need more support for federal acceptance of kratom and consistent regulations across the country. The Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act is certainly a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to ensure consumers are educated and have continued access to high-quality kratom products.
If you have questions about kratom, you can find many of the answers in our essential kratom how-to guides and our news updates on kratom legality in other states.
