Is Kratom Legal in North Carolina?

The legal status of kratom in North Carolina has been subject to change over the years. In 2016, there was a proposal to ban kratom in the state. This was the same year the DEA decided to place kratom on Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, making kratom as illegal as heroin.

In October 2016, after tens of thousands of kratom consumers signed a major petition, entered public comments in the Federal Register, and demonstrated in Washington, DC , the DEA rescinded its decision to federally ban kratom

The North Carolina ban proposal was also withdrawn that year due to public outcry and advocacy efforts by kratom supporters. After various petitions and initiatives supporting kratom’s legality, the State of North Carolina decided to keep kratom legal but with age restrictions. Only individuals aged 18 or older can access kratom in North Carolina.

For years, the NC legislature was quiet on kratom. Then in April 2023, a bipartisan bill, H563, was introduced in the North Carolina House. The title of the bill is "Regulate Hemp-Derived Consumables & Kratom".

The bill bans distributing kratom in public places, and requires that kratom be sold without adulterants or contaminents. The amount of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the product must be less than 1% of alkaloids. All kratom products, should this bill become law, must be labelled with "directions for safe use by consumers, including a recommended serving size, the recommended number of servings per day, and the number of servings in the package that is sold."

The bill unanimously passed the North Carolina House. As of this writing (March 2024), the bill has been sitting in the Senate Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee since September of 2023.

Therefore, kratom remains legal and unregulated for persons 18 years of age and older in North Carolina.