S 3198

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3198
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
  SENATE, August 10, 2026.
  The committee on Public Health to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill,
Senate, No. 1609) of Jacob R. Oliveira and Colleen M. Garry for legislation relative to the
regulation of Kratom, report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 3198).
  For the committee,
  William J. Driscoll, Jr.
  FILED ON: 7/22/2026
 SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3198
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
     An Act relative to the regulation of Kratom.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
     of the same, as follows:
1SECTION 1. The General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 official edition, are hereby
2 amended by inserting after Chapter 94 the following new chapter:
3Chapter 94J. Regulation of Kratom.
4Section 1. Definitions
5As used in this chapter the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires
6 otherwise, have the following meanings:
7“Attractive to children”, kratom products manufactured in or featuring the shape,
8 likeness, or otherwise bear resemblance to fictional characters, cartoons, or animals or is
9 manufactured or packaged in a form that bears any reasonable resemblance to a candy product or
10 branded food product such that a product could be mistaken for the branded product, especially
11 by children.
12“Department”, the department of public health
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13“Distributor”, a person that sells, prepares, distributes, or maintains kratom products, or
14 advertises, represents, or otherwise holds itself out as selling, preparing, or maintaining kratom
15 products.
16“Kratom”, the plant Mitragyna speciosa or any part of that plant, including all
17 components present in the natural plant.
18“Kratom food service establishment”, means any person who sells kratom as a beverage
19 prepared on-site, or sells pre-packaged kratom beverages or finished kratom products, at a
20 licensed food service establishment.
21“Kratom product”, a food, dietary ingredient or beverage intended for human
22 consumption which contains any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa or an extract of
23 the Mitragyna speciosa leaf and is manufactured or served as a powder, capsule, pill, beverage,
24 liquid, or other edible form.
25“Kratom extract”, a substance or compound obtained by extraction of the Mitragyna
26 speciosa leaf, intended for ingestion, containing more than trace amounts of Mitragyna speciosa
27 and contains other alkaloids of the kratom plant, which does not contain any controlled
28 substances or levels of residual solvents higher than is allowed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia 467.
29“Registrant”, a person or processor that sells, prepares, manufactures, distributes, or
30 maintains kratom products, or advertises, represents, or holds itself out as selling, preparing, or
31 maintaining kratom products.
32“Retailer”, any person that sells, distributes, advertises, represents, or holds itself out as
33 selling kratom products.
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34"Synthesized material", an alkaloid or alkaloid derivative that has been created by
35 chemical synthesis or biosynthetic means, including but not limited to; fermentation,
36 recombinant techniques, yeast derived, enzymatic techniques, rather than traditional food
37 preparation techniques, such as heating or extracting that synthetically alters the composition of
38 any kratom alkaloid or constituent.
39Section 2. Kratom Product Limitations;
40(a) a registrant or retailer shall not prepare, distribute, sell, or expose for sale any of the
41 following:
42(1) a product containing a concentration ratio greater than: (i) 150 milligrams of
43 mitragynine per serving; (ii) 0.5 milligrams of 7-hydroxymitragynine per gram, or; (iii) greater
44 than 1 milligram of 7-hydroxymitragynine per serving.
45(2) a kratom product that is adulterated with a poisonous or otherwise deleterious non-
46 kratom ingredient, including, but not limited to, substances considered as “controlled substances”
47 pursuant to section 1 of chapter 94C or applicable federal laws or substances that, when mixed or
48 packed with kratom, affects the quality or strength of the kratom product to such a degree as to
49 render the kratom product injurious to a consumer;
50(3) a kratom product that is adulterated with dangerous psychoactive compounds, which
51 include, but are not limited to, natural or synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, synthetic
52 alkaloids, or other compounds that may significantly alter the safety profile of the kratom
53 product;
54(4) is in any form that is combustible, intended to be used for vaporization, or injectable;
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55(5) a kratom product that contains synthetic alkaloids, including synthetic mitragine,
56 synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine, or other synthetically derived alkaloids or kratom constituents.
57(6) a kratom product that contains levels of residual solvents higher than what is allowed
58 under U.S. Pharmacopeia 467.
59(7) a kratom product that is attractive to children or contains symbolism, imagery,
60 characters, branding, or other visual elements that could be considered to reasonably appeal to
61 children, or
62(8) a product containing kratom or kratom by-products that does not fall into the
63 definition of “kratom products” as provided in section 1 of this chapter.
64(b) no person, registrant, retailer, manufacturer, or other entity shall sell a kratom product
65 intended for human ingestion without a label or fact sheet that clearly states: (i) the name and
66 address of its manufacturer; (ii) a full list of ingredients; (iii) notice that the product has not been
67 reviewed or approved as a medication by the FDA; and (iv) directions for the product's safe and
68 effective use, including recommended serving size.
69(c) no person, registrant, retailer, manufacturer, or other entity shall sell, offer to sell,
70 make available for sale, gift, offer to gift, or otherwise provide or distribute a kratom product to
71 any person under 21 years of age.
72(d) any registrant, retailer or other entity that violates subsection (a) or subsection (b)
73 shall be subject to an administrative fine of not more than $500 for the first offense and $1,000
74 for subsequent offenses, provided, however, that a retailer does not violate subsection (a) or
75 subsection (b) if they can show by a preponderance of the evidence that they relied in good faith
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76 upon the representations of a manufacturer, processor, packer or distributor of a kratom product
77 or food represented to be a kratom product that such product was in compliance with this section.
78(e) a person, registrant, retailer, or other entity that willfully or knowingly violates
79 subsection (c) shall be punished by a fine up to $10,000. A person, retailer, or other entity that
80 recklessly or negligently violates subsection (c) shall be punished by a fine up to $5,000. A
81 person, retailer, or other entity that otherwise violates subsection (c) shall be punished by a fine
82 up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $5,000 for subsequent offenses.
83(f) a registrant that is found to have willfully or knowingly violate subsections (a), (b), or
84 (c) shall, consistent with the procedural requirements of Chapter 30A,
85Section 3. Registration
86(a) no person, retailer, or other entity shall engage in the sale, preparation for sale, or
87 manufacturing of kratom products without first registering with the department. The department
88 shall offer registration through an online portal.
89(b) the department may, in its discretion, impose a reasonable fee on prospective
90 registrants prior to approval of any registration.
91(c) a registrant that is found to have willfully or knowingly violate subsections (a), (b), or
92 (c) of section 2 of this chapter shall, consistent with the requirements of Chapter 30A, have their
93 registration revoked by the department. A registrant that otherwise violates said subsections (a),
94 (b), or (c) of section 2 of this chapter may, consistent with the requirements of chapter 30A, have
95 their registration revoked by the department.
96Section 4. Rulemaking
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97The department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to administer the
98 provisions of this chapter, subject to the requirements of chapter 30A.
99SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Department
100 of Public Health, in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Resources, shall
101 investigate, research, and make recommendations regarding the best practices for kratom
102 regulation. Such recommendations shall include: (1) recommended legislative changes to
103 effectively regulate kratom dosage, potency, laboratory testing, retailer registration and oversight
104 of kratom sales, (2) the needed staffing necessary to effectively create a licensing and
105 registration system for kratom retailers, manufacturers, and laboratory testing, and (3) any other
106 best practices or legislative changes that the department deem necessary. The department shall
107 publish its report and file with the clerks of the house and senate, the chairs of the joint
108 committees on ways and means, public health, and mental health, substance use and recovery no
109 later than January 1, 2030.
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