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The Kratom Consumer Protection Act

The KCPA is a model state-level statute that has filled the federal regulatory gap on kratom: age limits, mandatory product testing, labelling rules, and quality standards rather than prohibition. This brief reads the model's structure and the state-by-state variations that affect businesses operating in the category. The American Kratom Association maintains the authoritative model text and state-by-state tracker.

Origin

The Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) is model legislation developed by the American Kratom Association as a state-level alternative to prohibition. The first KCPA-modelled statute passed in Utah in 2019; since then a growing number of states have adopted KCPA-style legislation, with provisions varying state by state.

The KCPA is not a single uniform statute. It is a reference framework that legislators adapt to their state's administrative and regulatory context. This page documents the model's common elements and the differences worth noting from one state to the next.

Common provisions of the model

  • 01Age restriction. Sales restricted to adults — most enacted versions specify 21, some specify 18. Penalties for sale to minors are typically administrative or civil; a few states attach criminal penalties.
  • 02Mandatory product testing. Vendors must test each lot for heavy metals, microbial contamination, and alkaloid content, with Certificates of Analysis available on request. Specific limits vary by state but generally reference USP standards or the AKA GMP programme.
  • 03Labelling requirements. Product labels must disclose ingredients, alkaloid concentrations (mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine), manufacturer information, and batch identification. Exact disclosure formats differ across states.
  • 04Product composition standards. Most enacted versions cap the 7-hydroxymitragynine content relative to total alkaloids — typically at 2% — to address concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products. The cap value is the single most variable provision across states and merits attention from operators selling extract products.
  • 05Vendor registration / compliance. Some states require registration with the state agriculture or health department, payment of a fee, and ongoing compliance with the testing and labelling provisions. Others apply the standards without a registration regime.

Which states have enacted it

KCPA-modelled legislation has been adopted in a growing number of states. The state-by-state record — including bills currently in motion — is maintained by the American Kratom Association as the authoritative source. We don't duplicate that tracking here.

See the AKA tracker

For a consumer-facing visual reference, see the interactive state-by-state guide.

State-by-state differences worth noting

  • ·7-OH cap variation. The 7-hydroxymitragynine cap is the most consequential difference between state versions. Businesses selling full-spectrum extracts or concentrated products should read each state's cap definition carefully — some define it as a percentage of total alkaloids, others as a percentage of mitragynine, others as a maximum per serving.
  • ·Age threshold. 21 in most KCPA states; 18 in a smaller number. Verify state by state before launching wholesale into a new market.
  • ·Registration regime. Whether the state requires vendor registration with a state agency varies. Where it does, the registration cost and renewal cadence are part of the operating budget.
  • ·Penalties for non-compliance. Most states use civil or administrative penalties; a small number attach criminal liability for selling products that fall outside the composition standards.
  • ·Local pre-emption. A handful of KCPA states do not pre-empt local bans, meaning cities or counties within a KCPA-enacted state can still restrict kratom locally. This affects retail distribution planning.

What this brief is and is not

This page summarises the KCPA model and surfaces the differences between enacted versions that are most consequential for businesses and journalists. It is not legal advice. Anyone planning to ship into KCPA states should consult counsel familiar with the specific state's enacted text, registration regime, and current enforcement posture.

Primary sources: the AKA maintains the authoritative model text and the most current state-by-state legislative tracker. State-level enacted text is available from each state's legislative website. The Scientific Literature library collects the peer-reviewed work that informs the model's evidentiary basis — particularly the eight-factor analyses indexed there.

See also