Philadelphia’s new rules on kratom and intoxicating hemp took effect Thursday, and for shops in much of the Northeast, the law reads less like regulation and more like a shutdown.
The ordinance, Bill 260163, passed City Council 16 to 0 in June and was signed by Mayor Cherelle Parker in September. It bans the sale of intoxicating hemp and kratom products, and it bars selling any of them to anyone under 21. A violation is a Class III offense, carrying a fine of up to $2,000 a day, and every day a violation continues counts as a new offense.
The law also bars any intoxicating substance that is not approved as a dietary supplement or safe food additive, or that does not have an approved application on file with the federal Food and Drug Administration.
In theory, shops can apply for a permit to sell legally. In practice, the permit system is not running. The ordinance creates a retailer permit, $300 to apply and $300 to renew, but only for a fixed storefront that is not within 500 feet of a school, public playground, park, swimming pool, recreation center, library, or child care facility. The permit section takes effect only once the city issues regulations, and the city has not announced any.
Even when the regulations come, many Northeast shops will not qualify. The bill names roughly 180 commercial corridors and business improvement districts where no permit can be issued at all, including Frankford Avenue, Kensington Avenue, and much of the Northeast.
Permit holders would also have to get products tested at a federally registered lab licensed in Pennsylvania, and label them to show they pass.
The timing is not only the city’s doing. Federal hemp rules are tightening at the same time. On Thursday, federal law started excluding hemp products containing cannabinoids the cannabis plant cannot produce on its own. On Dec 11, two more federal limits take effect, a 0.3 percent cap on total THC by weight, and a cap of 0.4 milligrams of THC per container for finished products.
Shop owners pushed back before the law took effect. CBD Kratom, which says it operates three Philadelphia stores, asked Council to reconsider. Its chief operating officer, Jason Brandl, said the bill moved forward “without adequate consideration of the scientific research, industry expertise, and testimony provided by Philadelphia residents who rely on these products.” He said the goal should be “a regulatory framework that protects consumers while preserving a pathway for compliant, responsible operators to continue serving adult consumers.”
The company argues that requiring FDA approval effectively ends sales of natural leaf kratom, since no practical approval pathway exists for those products.
For Northeast shoppers and small shop owners, the open questions are now the city’s. When will the permit regulations come, and will any Northeast corridor be left where a legal sale is possible? Neither has an answer yet.
