A bill to bring new regulation to kratom in Montana received its first hearing Tuesday, sparking more than an hour of testimony and questions about how best to rein in products often advertised as mood stabilizers and sold in gas stations and vape shops.
Some lawmakers on the House Business and Labor Committee, as well as state officials and lobbyists, acknowledged only learning of kratom in recent days. The plant-derived substance, which comes from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia, is not federally regulated by the Food and Drug Administration but has been listed as a “drug or chemical of concern” by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Tuesday’s hearing suggested that kratom, despite not being well-known, is already having widespread impacts in Montana. Small business owners and national lobbyists testified to the substance’s potential benefits, touting it as a pain relief alternative for users looking to avoid opioids or prescription drugs. Addiction prevention advocates spoke about kratom’s risks for dependency and other negative health effects.
But almost everyone who testified Tuesday urged lawmakers to take some form of action, describing Montana’s current kratom market as a “Wild West” where synthetic offshoots and natural products intermingle without distinction.
Rep. Nelly Nicol, R-Billings, is the sponsor of House Bill 407. She said she welcomed amendments to the bill, adding that some alterations are already in the works.
“My goal this session is to get something passed. Something,” Nicol said.
Montana’s bill, dubbed the “Kratom Consumer Protection Act,” is based on model legislation from the American Kratom Association. The proposal would bar kratom sales to those under 18 years old and prohibit marketing products as “kratom” if they contain a higher potency of two main chemical components, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.
A lobbyist for the American Kratom Association, Mac Haddow, was the only proponent of the legislation Tuesday. But, like Nicol, Haddow said his organization was open to various amendments, including raising the age restriction to 21 and implementing a tax or fees to help fund state enforcement.
At a minimum, Haddow pushed lawmakers to fill a regulatory void he said has been created by the federal government.
“We hope that you will see the wisdom of saying to the FDA that, until you act responsibly, we are going to protect the citizens of Montana, making sure that they have safely formulated, properly labeled and age-restricted kratom products,” Haddow said.
Lawmakers heard testimony from 10 other speakers, all of whom registered as opponents. Many suggested they could support the bill with specific amendments.
Isiac Hammer, who owns two teahouses in Billings that brew kratom products, asked the committee to strike a provision in the bill that he said would make it illegal to mix kratom with some of the common sweeteners and juices his staff use. But Hammer was also one of the many opponents who asked lawmakers to work toward weeding out synthetic forms of kratom from the market.
“Synthetic kratom is not just a compromised product. It represents a dangerous departure from an integrity and safety that our teahouses have long upheld,” Hammer said. “Our community deserves better.”
Other opponents pushed back against arguments that only synthetic forms of kratom are dangerous. Megan Zawacki, a physician assistant in Helena who specializes in addiction medicine, said she is currently treating more patients for kratom addiction than for fentanyl use. She said she has seen patients face health issues and complications from a variety of kratom capsules, teas and other beverages.
“In my opinion, there is no health benefit to kratom,” she said.
Other public health officials, including representatives of RiverStone Health in Yellowstone County, asked lawmakers to create guidelines for how to regulate local restaurants that make kratom food and drink products.
Lawmakers raised several questions about how to categorize kratom products based on safety, addiction potential and chemical components. Many said they knew people who used kratom but did not know much more about its addiction or health risks.
Others asked about potential taxation opportunities to help cover the cost of state enforcement. In a mid-February fiscal note, the Governor’s Office of Budget and Program Planning estimated that the Department of Revenue would need roughly $1 million to hire nine employees to create a new unit for regulating kratom products. The note estimates that those costs could be covered by license and registration fees after the first year of implementing regulations.
Haddow and other people testifying said the costs of enforcement vary widely from state to state, depending on kratom sales, reporting requirements and existing state infrastructure for regulating legal substances.
Hammer, the teahouse owner, said he would be open to being taxed. Another lawmaker, Rep. Joshua Seckinger, D-Bozeman, asked a representative from the state revenue department if they would support a 20% excise tax on kratom to help fund a division similar to that for regulating cannabis sales. The percentage would match Montana’s current tax for adult-use recreational marijuana.
“Rep. Seckinger, we would stand up whatever program it is that you ultimately decide is right for this state,” said Becky Schlauch, a division administrator.
The committee did not take a vote on the bill Tuesday.
