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House committee backs bill to create kratom regulatory framework as backup to possible ban
Summary
The House Business and Labor Committee recommended HB387, a bill that would give Utah's Department of Agriculture and Food authority to regulate kratom products and restrict high‑potency extracts while allowing pure leaf products to remain available. The measure passed the committee 9–1 and moves to the House floor.
Representative Daley Provost urged the House Business and Labor Committee to approve HB387, saying the state currently lacks statutory authority to regulate kratom products and that a regulatory vacuum has left Utahns exposed to dangerous, high‑potency extracts.
"We don't have statutory language that gives our regulatory agency . . . the ability to regulate any kratom product," Representative Daley Provost said, arguing the bill creates a trigger‑based framework that would take effect if a wholesale ban did not become enforceable.
Supporters and agency witnesses told the committee the bill targets concentrated extracts and synthetics associated with a spike in poison‑control calls and deaths, while preserving access to whole‑leaf products some consumers use for symptom relief. Dr. Brandon Forsyth, director of laboratory services at the Utah Department of Agriculture, testified the department can distinguish many synthetics and high levels of 7‑hydroxy alkaloids in laboratory testing but needs statutory authority to enforce standards.
"Concentrates have had their kratom alkaloids extracted from the plant material," Dr. Brandon Forsyth said. "The products we're having the biggest issues with . . . are these extracted products." Amber Brown, deputy commissioner at the Department of Agriculture and Food, told the committee UDAF supports the bill and wants limits so "only pure leaf kratom products are allowed to be sold." Several industry witnesses said they favor strict testing, serving‑size labels and behind‑the‑counter sales to keep dangerous products off the market while preserving consumer access.
Opponents including Drug Safe Utah urged a full ban on kratom; other commenters worried criminal penalties in related proposals could have harsh consequences. Senator Evan Vickers, who sponsors a companion Senate bill focusing on scheduling the synthetic 7‑hydroxy alkaloid, said the House and Senate measures are designed to be complementary.
After brief committee discussion emphasizing that HB387 does not itself ban whole‑leaf kratom but creates regulatory tools and enforcement teeth for UDAF, Representative Wynne moved the favorable recommendation. The committee approved the measure on a roll call vote, 9–1 (Representative Sawyer opposed). The bill now goes to the House floor.
