MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Business and Commerce
By: Representative Yancey
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT RETAILERS, MANUFACTURERS AND WHOLESALERS FROM SELLING OR DISTRIBUTING KRATOM PRODUCTS TO ANY PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS; TO PROHIBIT PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS FROM PURCHASING, RECEIVING, OR HAVING IN HIS OR HER POSSESSION IN ANY PUBLIC PLACE ANY KRATOM PRODUCTS; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS RELATING TO THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following terms have the meanings as defined in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Kratom product" means a food or dietary supplement that consists of or contains kratom leaf or kratom leaf extract that does not contain any synthesized kratom alkaloids, other kratom constituents, or synthesized metabolites of any kratom constituent in which the level of 7-hydroxymitragynine, on a percent weight basis, is not greater than one percent (1%) of the amount of total kratom alkaloids, as confirmed with a high-performance liquid chromatography testing method and not to exceed one-half (0.5) milligram per container. For the purposes of this paragraph, "synthesized" refers to substances produced using directed synthetic or biosynthetic chemistry, as opposed to traditional food preparation techniques such as heating or extracting.
(b) "Retailer" means a person that sells or maintains kratom products or that advertises, represents or holds itself out as selling, preparing or maintaining kratom products and includes a store, restaurant, hotel, catering facility, camp, bakery, delicatessen, supermarket, grocery store, convenience store, or food or drink company.
(c) "Wholesaler", "jobber" or "distributor" means a person doing a regularly organized wholesale or jobbing business, known to the trade as such, and selling kratom products to licensed retail dealers or other wholesalers for resale in the regular course of business.
(d) "Manufacturer" means a person that produces, prepares, compounds or processes kratom products. This includes any person packaging, repackaging, labeling or relabeling of kratom products.
SECTION 2. (1) (a) A retailer, manufacturer, and/or wholesaler shall not distribute or sell a kratom product to an individual under twenty-one (21) years of age.
(b) Kratom products offered for sale must be placed behind the retailer's counter.
(c) Every person engaged in the business of selling kratom products at retail shall notify each individual employed by that person as a retail sales clerk that state law:
(i) Prohibits the sale or distribution of kratom products, including samples, to any person under twenty-one (21) years of age and the purchase or receipt of kratom products by any person under twenty-one (21) years of age; and
(ii) Requires that proof of age be demanded from a prospective purchaser or recipient if the prospective purchaser or recipient is under the age of twenty-one (21) years. Every person employed by a person engaged in the business of selling kratom products at retail shall sign an agreement with his employer in substantially the following or similar form:
"I understand that state law prohibits the sale or distribution of kratom products to persons under the age of twenty-one (21) years, and requires that proof of age be demanded from a prospective purchaser or recipient under twenty-one (21) years of age if the individual is not known to the seller, barterer, deliverer or giver of the kratom product to be over the age of twenty-one (21) years. I promise, as a condition of my employment, to observe this law."
(d) No retailer who instructs his employee as provided in this section shall be liable for any violations committed by such employees.
(2) A retailer, wholesaler, jobber, distributor and manufacturer shall not prepare, distribute, or sell any of the following:
(a) A kratom product that does not meet the definition for a kratom product pursuant to Section 1 of this act;
(b) A kratom product that is contaminated with a dangerous nonkratom substance. A kratom product is contaminated with a dangerous nonkratom substance if the kratom product contains a substance that is not safe for human consumption;
(c) A kratom product containing a level of
7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction that is greater than one percent (1%) of the alkaloid composition and not to exceed one-half (0.5) milligram per container of the product;
(d) A kratom product containing any synthesized, or semi-synthesized, alkaloid, including synthesized or semi-synthesized mitragynine, synthesized or semi-synthesized
7-hydroxymitragynine or any other synthesized or semi-synthesized compounds of the kratom plant;
(e) A kratom product containing any controlled substance listed in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, unless the product is compounded by a licensed pharmacist with the controlled substance dispensed in accordance with a valid prescription.
SECTION 3. (1) (a) Any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years who falsely states he or she is twenty-one (21) years of age or older, or presents any document that indicates he or she is twenty-one (21) years of age or older, for the purpose of entering the premises of a retailer that sells, stores, or maintains kratom products shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), nor more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), and a sentence to not more than thirty (30) days community service.
(b) Any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years who purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession in any public place, any kratom product, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
(2) (a) A retailer or agent of a retailer, wholesaler, jobber, distributor and manufacturer that sells, stores, or maintains kratom products, who violates, or permits the violation of, Section 2 of this act, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per violation.
(b) A retailer or agent of a retailer, wholesaler, jobber, distributor and manufacturer that sells, stores, or maintains kratom products, who shall sell, furnish, dispose of, give, or cause to be sold, furnished, disposed of, or given, any kratom product to any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per violation.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2025.