A proposed bill to regulate the dietary supplement kratom has divided key industry players—some view it as a positive step forward. In contrast, others argue it won’t stop unscrupulous sellers from distributing adulterated products because it does not go far enough.
Kratom is an herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects, according to the National Institutes of Health. As usage in Colorado continues to increase, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has labeled it a “drug of concern.”
According to the National Institute of Health, kratom has been used in certain parts of the world for centuries to combat fatigue, improve productivity, and alleviate pain. In the Western world, it is sometimes used to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms.
Senate Bill 072, passed the General Assembly without much fanfare, with the exception of a last-minute “supermotion” that resurrected the measure in the final days of the 2025 session.
Gov. Jared Polis has until June 6 to sign or veto the measure. If he does not, it will automatically become law.
SB 072 was heavily amended throughout its journey. Its final form contains provisions prohibiting the sale of kratom products to anyone under 21, banning kratom-derived products that are “adulterated” with fentanyl or other substances, and requiring producers to label their products with health warnings and ingredient disclosures. Violations are considered deceptive trade practices enforceable by the Attorney General.
The precursor to SB 072 is 2022’s Senate Bill 120, which created some preliminary regulations for the kratom industry in Colorado. That bill prohibited the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 and banned the sale of adulterated kratom products, with violators subject to a $200 fine and a civil infraction.
SB 120 also charged the Department of Revenue with compiling a “feasibility report” on regulating the kratom industry, which was released the following year.
Proponents of this year’s SB 072 say it is the first step in implementing the report’s recommendations, while opponents are urging the governor to veto it, arguing it runs counter to the report and does very little to rein in bad actors.
At the center of it all is an organic compound known as hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, which, depending on who you talk to, is either a critical player in treating the opioid crisis or the next “superdrug.”
‘30 times more potent than morphine, ’bill supporters say
Kratom is a partial opioid agonist, meaning it binds to the body’s opioid receptors and produces similar effects to substances like oxycodone and fentanyl. However, unlike those substances, kratom only partially activates the opioid receptors, resulting in a weaker response from the body. Partial agonists are commonly used for pain relief, and some, like Suboxone, are used to treat opioid addiction by reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
While the FDA has not approved it, kratom is legal in 22 states, including Colorado. However, several states, including Tennessee, Georgia, and Arizona, have taken steps to either ban it entirely or cap the percentage of 7-OH a product contains. Under SB 072, Colorado would take the latter route, capping 7-OH content at 2%.
According to Matthew Lowe of the Global Kratom Coalition, that number is “in line with all scientific literature.”
“The leading scientists from University of Florida and Johns Hopkins all agree that this limitation should be in place, because as soon as you go above that level, it’s no longer natural,” he said of the substance. “It means you’ve done something in a synthetic way to kratom or to a kratom extract to turn it into something else, and in this case, you’ve turned it into a pure opioid — there’s no other way of saying it.”
7-OH was first described in 1994 and is one of over 40 different alkaloids, or chemical compounds, found in kratom. When it was discovered, 7-OH caused “great concern” within the scientific community, Lowe said, because it’s “a pure opioid that is 30 times more potent than morphine,”
“Effectively, what you’ve done is you’ve taken a natural botanical and turned it into a pure opioid that’s stronger than morphine,” he explained. “These products are being sold labeled as kratom, which they are not, because they only contain one alkaloid that isn’t present in the natural leaf and only becomes present upon drying, and they’re labeling it as a dietary supplement, which it’s not.”
The Global Kratom Coalition supported SB 072, and while Lowe said he wasn’t thrilled with the amendments that cut significant portions out of the measure, he believes it’s a good first step toward regulating 7-OH.
“We still have a bill that addresses the main concerns, and that is adulterated or synthetic products that are masquerading as kratom and making sure that no one under 21 can purchase it, as well as important labeling requirements,” he said. “I believe it’s critical in the context of what’s going on in the market, which is the proliferation of these dangerous, unproven opioids that are masquerading as kratom.”
Bill does not go far enough
Organizations like the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, or HART, tell a different story. The group advocates for regulations in the kratom and 7-OH industries but believes 7-OH poses no significant threat, supporting additional research into finding out how the substance can potentially help cure opioid addiction.
Kyle Ray, a 7-OH producer in Colorado and member of HART, says his company is currently conducting animal studies on the effects of the product. Because 7-OH is a partial opioid receptor, it has a “ceiling effect,” meaning its effect plateaus after a specific dosage, and overdosing is next to impossible, Ray said.
According to Ray, the idea that 7-OH is more addictive than morphine comes from a single study conducted years ago, and the product’s addictive potential hasn’t been studied enough to be truly known.
7-OH does indeed have addictive qualities, Ray said. Still, he and other advocates would much rather see someone addicted to something they believe is relatively harmless than a drug like fentanyl or heroin.
“This product does have addictive potential, the same way nicotine has addictive potential,” he said. “However, I want to be clear in how this product is being framed and how we’d like it to be perceived and regulated, which is as a harm reduction tool. That means the good outweighs the bad. I would say the bad is that it has addictive potential, but the good side of it is someone who is currently addicted to opioids can use it to get off opioids, and it’s not gonna kill you.”
Ray and other producers want regulations for their industry, which is a rarity, he said.
“We are embracing a regulatory framework, and that’s pretty rare. Typically, when there’s a new industry, the immediate response to the onset of government regulation is ‘leave us alone, we don’t want regulation.’ That’s the antithesis of what we’re saying. We’re saying we want stringent product labeling regulations. We want to make sure you don’t have animated characters luring children to want this stuff. We want third-party testing. We want a regulatory framework that adds legitimacy to a product that we think can be transformative instead of being in the shadows.”
While SB 072 does impose some restrictions, Ray doesn’t feel it goes nearly as far as it should, especially since the entire regulatory framework was stripped from the bill . As introduced, it would have required manufacturers of kratom products to register with the Department of Revenue and the FDA in order to operate in the state, but sponsors amended it out to avoid a fiscal note.
“Right now, as a 7OH company in Colorado, there is no regulatory agency that oversees me that I should register with that’s gonna come in and check on me and make sure I’m doing things right,” said Ray. All [the bill] does is push us further into the gray and make us even more unregulated, which is the opposite of what we want.”
Ray said HART and other advocates requested an amendment to the dosage requirements and restrictions on the bill, but it was shot down. He believes that move is a sign that the bill is not about safety, but rather represents an “industry fight” between kratom and 7-OH.
“This is kratom trying to separate themselves from us,” he said. “This is not about public health or public safety or making safer products or anything like that.”
Ray’s theory is further solidified by the measure’s lack of stakeholding. He says he and other 7-OH producers in the state were not contacted by bill sponsors, and he only found out about the bill because he was in contact with lobbyists. Ray believes stakeholding is crucial to every policy decision, but especially for niche industries that very few lawmakers are familiar with.
“During the Finance Committee hearing and multiple times when I was listening to the chambers, the legislators fully admitted that they don’t know what kratom is,” he said. “They’ve never heard of this. That’s why I think the stakeholder process is so, so important and something we desperately want to engage with if we can get the Governor to veto the bill, because they don’t know kratom the way we know kratom. We’re the industry players, and we want to be regulated. But the legislator who’s never heard of kratom until half an hour ago has no idea what we’re even talking about, and they’re the ones who are going to be voting on this.”
