As of 2019, Kratom is legal throughout Missouri. However, a few counties are currently engaged in a debate about whether this natural remedy should be banned or at least regulated. So far, the results have been promising as most involved counties have decided against a universal ban. The final outcome remains to be seen.
St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson counties were at the center of the Kratom debate in the first half of 2019. Up to 2018, Kratom had received little attention in Missouri. Indeed, as a St. Louis councilman stated at the time, most people could not even spell the name of this plant correctly. In 2018, there was a wave of negative comments as Kratom seemed to become the cause of most overdoses and even deaths.
During the ensuing debate, St. Charles Councilman Mike Elam used data from the state Poison Control department to make an interesting point. As it turned out, Poison Control had received about 1,800 calls about Kratom that year, as well as 14,000 calls about toothpaste and 20,000 about mouthwash. In other words, people were more likely to suffer from intoxication with toothpaste rather than overdose on Kratom. The claims against this natural remedy had been exaggerated drastically.
Of course, more research is currently needed to disprove, once and for all, the alleged negative side-effects of Kratom consumed in moderation. Until then, St. Charles county decided to postpone the ban, while St. Louis approved a set of regulations to improve the quality of the Kratom sold throughout the county. As such, Kratom remains legal to use, sell, and grow throughout Missouri, although maintaining this status quo might require significant effort from the local Kratom community in the future.
At present, you can buy Kratom in most tobacco and vape shops across Jefferson City and other cities in Missouri. However, as it was pointed out during the debate in early 2019, the issue with Kratom is mainly that harmful substances can be mixed with it for the sake of profit. In the case of local stores, there is almost no way to determine whether the Kratom you buy is pure or potentially dangerous.
This is why we recommend that you order your supply from an online kratom vendor your trust. We prefer The Golden Monk, for example, not only due to the quality of their powders, but also due to the fact that they regularly test everything they sell in 3rd party laboratories.