Is Kratom Legal in Hawaii

At the moment, it is legal to consume, distribute, purchase Kratom within the state of Hawaii. However, recent bills under review by the house could change that sooner than we all think. Over the last few years, there’ve been legal issues within the island state, with numerous attempts to get rid of Kratom. Issues have also come up regarding the sanctity of Kratom.

In 2018, Hawaiian legislators worked with law enforcement to craft regulatory guidelines for its citizens & responsible use of Kratom. Within this period, lawmakers made some changes to the bill S.B.2826. This change was responsible for placing Kratom on a list of substances under consideration for highway safety. 

At the time, there was a public outcry over the issue. In February 2019, S.B. 641 was introduced and the bill also placed Kratom within its list of intoxicants in relation to highway safety in Hawaii. These signify that at that point, Kratom was a health concern in Hawaii rather than an outright illegal substance.

At the moment, Kratom is legal within Hawaii. There exists legislation geared at labeling the major alkaloid components of the supplement as a Scheduled V drug. According to the documents obtained, the reason for wanting to schedule Kratom stem from the following:

• The DEA considers Kratom a drug of concern
• The FDA has publicly said that there is no scientific evidence of Kratom having beneficial properties
• According to the NIDA, Kratom abuse is rising. 

In addition to these, kratom alkaloids got a label as hallucinogenic drugs within the Schedule V classification. All of these point towards the idea that there could be some misinformation about Kratom and its benefits. Especially with how the lawmakers lead towards the inaccurate classification of the herb. 

Kratom’s Future in Hawaii 

The truth is although Kratom might currently be legal In Hawaii, that may not be the case in a few months. Currently, discussions are ongoing between the American Kratom Association and the lawmakers for the state to adopt the Kratom Customer Protection Act. Which leads us to our next point – What is the Kratom Customer Protection Act?

What is The Kratom Consumer Protection Act

Designed by the American Kratom Association to regulate the fast-growing industry, The Kratom Consumer Protection Act was crafted with one key goal in mind. The stability and growth of the Kratom industry. As a fast-growing industry, an issue Kratom faces is, left unchecked there exists the possibility for fake and synthetic products. 

The hope is, as a result of the protection act, numerous issues like age restrictions, labeling, testing, and compliance will be addressed. We are also hoping that Federal and statewide kratom bans will become a thing of the past as all kratom users use and enjoy their favorite supplement without fear of government persecution.