Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator JON M. BRAMNICK
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Creates New Jersey Kratom Protection Act.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act creating the New Jersey Kratom Consumer Protection Act; and establishing chapter 6O of Title 24 of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Short Title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the New Jersey Kratom Consumer Protection Act.
2. Definitions relative to the regulation and use of Kratom.
As used in this act:
Department means the Department of Health.
Food means any food, food product, food ingredient, dietary ingredient, dietary supplement, or beverage intended for human consumption.
Kratom means the tropical evergreen known as the Mitragyna speciose that is native to Southeast Asia that contains the alkaloid mitragynine, which has stimulant and opioid-like properties.
Kratom extract means a food product or dietary ingredient containing any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna Speciosa that has been extracted and concentrated in order to provide more standardized dosing.
Kratom retailer means any individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, association, trust, estate or any other legal entity, and any officer, member, shareholder, director, employee, agent or representative of any such entity who sells, maintains, distributes kratom products, or advertises, represents, or holds itself out to be selling or maintaining kratom products.
Kratom product means a food product or dietary ingredient containing any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciose or an extract of it; or is manufactured as a powder, capsule, pill, beverage, or other edible form; and all kratom products are foods.
Manufacture means the production, preparation, compounding, or processing of kratom, either directly or indirectly or by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes, but is not limited to, any packaging or repackaging of such substance or labeling or relabeling of its container.
Transaction scan means the process by which a person checks, by means of a transaction scan device, the age and identity of the identification holder.
Transaction scan device means any commercial device or combination of devices used at a point of sale that is capable of deciphering in an electronically readable format the information enclosed on the magnetic strip or bar code of a drivers license or other governmental identity card.
3. Product Labeling.
Any retailer who prepares, distributes, sells, or exposes for sale a food that is represented to be kratom product shall disclose on the label of such kratom product the factual basis upon which such representation is made.
4. Product Limitations.
A retailer shall not prepare, distribute, sell, or expose for sale any of the following:
a. any kratom product that is adulterated with a dangerous non-kratom substance. A kratom product is adulterated with a dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product is mixed or packed with a non-kratom substance and that substance affects the quality or strength of the kratom product to such a degree as to render the kratom product injurious to a consumer.
b. any kratom product that is contaminated with a dangerous non-kratom substance. A kratom product is contaminated with a dangerous non-kratom substance if the kratom product contains a poisonous or otherwise deleterious non-kratom ingredient, including, but not limited to, any substance specifically listed in N.J.S.2C:35-3, section 3 of P.L.1997, c.194 (C.2C:35-5.2), section 5 of P.L.1997, c.194 (C.2C:35-5.3), section 2 of P.L.2011, c.120 (C.2C:35-5.3a) or in section 2 of P.L. 2013, c.35 (C.2C:35-5.3b), and any other drug or non-kratom substance which, when ingested, is metabolized or otherwise becomes a controlled dangerous substance in the human body.
c. any kratom product containing a level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction that is greater than 2% of the overall alkaloid composition of the product.
d. any kratom extract that contains levels of residual solvents higher than is allowed in USP-NF chapter 467.
e. any kratom product containing any synthetic alkaloids including synthetic mitragynine, synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine, or any other synthetically derived compounds of the kratom plant.
f. any kratom product that does not include on its package or label the amount of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine contained in such product, and does not provide adequate labeling directions necessary for safe and effective use by consumers, including a recommended serving size.
5. Age Limits.
a. No retailer shall knowingly distribute or sell any kratom product to any individual under 21 years of age.
b. Any person operating a place of business or kratom retailer wherein kratom is sold or offered for sale is prohibited from selling such kratom products to individuals under the age of 21, and shall post in a conspicuous place a sign upon which there shall be imprinted the following statement. SALE OF KRATOM TO PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.
c. Sales of kratom shall be made only to an individual who demonstrates, through (i) a valid drivers license or non-drivers identification card issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, the federal government, any United States territory, commonwealth, the District of Columbia, or (ii) a valid passport issued by the United States government or any other country, or (iii) an identification card issued by the armed forces of the United States, or (iv) any other photographic identification card issued by a governmental entity or educational institution indicating that the individual is at least 21 years of age.
d. (1) Any person operating a place of business or retailer where kratom is sold or offered for sale may perform a transaction scan of the identification as a precondition for such purchases.
(2) In any instance where the information presented by the transaction scan fails to match the information printed on the identification provided, the attempted transaction shall be denied.
(3) It shall be an affirmative defense that such person produced a valid form of identification, successfully completed a transaction scan, and that the kratom was sold in reasonable reliance upon such identification and transaction scan.
(4) a retailer or operator of a business where kratom is sold may electronically record or maintain only the information from a transaction scan necessary to effectuate this section. Such information shall be limited to the (i) name, (ii) date of birth, (iii) drivers license or non-driver identification number, and (iv) the expiration date.
6. Penalties.
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