Sponsor seeks locked‑case rule for kratom after state and national safety concerns

Representative McGaugh told the House Committee on Corporations on March 12 that she will seek a requirement for kratom products to be stored in locked cases until purchase, citing public‑health concerns and data she said the state Department of Health provided.

"From 2020 to '24, there have been 10 fatal overdoses in Rhode Island that involved kratom," Representative McGaugh told the committee, saying she had contacted the Department of Health for information on overdoses and enforcement.

Opponents and industry witnesses said the record is more complex. Matt Caddo of the American Kratom Association said Rhode Island’s consumer‑protection rules from last year have not yet taken effect and warned against changing the law before the existing rules are implemented. He and other witnesses distinguished natural‑leaf kratom from chemically manipulated products (often referred to in testimony as "7‑OH" or "7‑hydroxymitragynine" or synthetic derivatives) and argued that many reported harms have involved adulterated or concentrated products rather than traditional leaf kratom.

Other lawmakers and witnesses urged technical clarity. Committee members asked McGaugh whether the 10 overdose deaths involved natural leaf kratom or adulterated products; she said she would follow up with the Department of Health for that level of detail. Several members and witnesses noted that other states (Utah, Connecticut, Ohio and others) have recently re‑examined or restricted kratom products.

The committee did not take a vote; members requested additional information from the Department of Health to determine whether the overdoses cited involved adulterated products or natural‑leaf formulations and to evaluate whether a locked‑case requirement is warranted.