Regulate California Now: A Balanced and Sensible Approach to Kratom Policy

Our intention is to advocate for kratom, a botanical product from Southeast Asia used for hundreds of years as traditional medicine for pain, motivation, relaxation, and overall well-being.

RCN supports the botanical product in its natural forms such as crushed or powdered leaves that can be brewed into tea, put into capsules, or eaten whole. We support botanical extracts made with USP food grade solvents in the forms of teas and other consumer products so long as those products are adequately labeled and not attractive to minors.

We oppose dangerously adulterated products including those synthesized to contain compounds (such as 7-hydroxymitragynine or “7-OH”) that only occur in trace quantities (sometimes not at all) in natural products and in extracts made using food-grade solvents. We oppose the further synthesis into compounds that occur in even smaller quantities in nature (such as mitragynine pseudoindoxyl) or that do not occur in nature at all (such as 1,2-dihydro-7-hydroxymitragynine or “MGM-15” and fluoridated versions such as “MGM-16”). These products have entered the market with little or no study in humans or animals.

RCN supports limiting the sale and use of botanical kratom for adults 18 or 21 and over. When used according to manufacturer instructions on well labeled natural botanical kratom or kratom extracts made from it with USP food grade solvents, the potential for dependence is low and the consequences of such are minimal. Nevertheless, restricting these products to adult consumers helps avoid deliberate misuse by minors.

RCN opposes packaging that is attractive to children, such as those that contain pictures of cartoons or animals, looks like popular candies or snack foods.

RCN opposes misleading labeling that can imply that dangerously adulterated synthesized products are “kratom.” This seeks to confuse consumers, and poorly trained shopkeepers who may not understand the substantial differences between products. No botanical kratom product will have a label where the 7-hyroxymitragynine content exceeds 1 milligram per serving, or stated another way, more than 2% by alkaloid fraction.

RCN does not sell, distribute, or endorse any particular vendor or product.