Resources

How The Future of Kratom Relies On The GMP Program

June 10, 2020 by LCK

The kratom industry in America has always been a bit shaky, especially from the outside looking in. Due to strict rules, importation problems, and changing laws, the status of kratom is not always clear or consistent. This can lead to some fear and discomfort among both kratom vendors and kratom consumers.

Due to this uncertainty, the GMP program was established by the American Kratom Association in an attempt to organize and plan for the future of the kratom industry. Varying laws and disorganization were putting the industry’s future at risk. The GMP program has, in many ways, smoothed out many of those risks.

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into understanding the GMP program and what it is all about. How can a single program change the future of the industry forever? Find out today!

All About The GMP Program

If you aren’t familiar with the GMP program run by the American Kratom Association, don’t worry! We’ll cover it (and why it matters for consumers like you) today.

The GMP Program, also known as the Good Manufacturing Practices Program, is a standards program that was set up to help kratom vendors establish a high level of manufacturing. The program sets up certain industry standards that help to ensure every batch of kratom sold is safe and reliable for consumers.

What Guidelines Are Established?

The specific guidelines established by the GMP program are very detailed. If you want to read the full guidelines, you can check them out on the AKA website here.

Generally, these guidelines set up provisions to ensure the following:

Kratom is being tested regularly
Kratom is being tested in batches that are tracked with proper documentation.
The facilities are being managed in safe, secure ways.
The workers are in safe conditions and are also being encouraged to follow safety procedures properly.
The labeling on kratom is not misleading for consumers.
The business is being properly audited by a 3rd party every year.
There are systems in place to track the complete kratom supply chain being used.

Each of these areas, as well as all of the others covered in the complete guidelines, are important to ensure that the kratom sold to customers is being monitored for safety. Before these guidelines existed, there were discrepancies within the community about what level of testing was necessary.

With industry standards like the GMP rules in place, it makes it easier to share and apply all new research about what is best for kratom processing as well.

How Are Vendors Added?

If a vendor wants to join the GMP program, they have to make sure that they are compliant with all of the guidelines. That, however, is just one step of the complete process. Joining the GMP isn’t necessarily simple, but it is a worthwhile time investment for vendors.

Here is what vendors have to do to join the program:

Enroll on AKA’s website.
Complete the initial 3rd party audit within 90 days.
If the 90-day audit window is missed, AKA will work with the vendor to find out if this was a reasonable mistake or if their practices are out of the GMP requirements. The AKA will update their participant list accordingly.
Every year, the vendor must complete another 3rd party audit.

As long as a vendor remains in line with the guidelines laid out by the AKA’s program, they will be able to stay in the program for many years to come.

Why Does GMP Matter?

Has it become clear to you why the GMP is so important yet?

If not, that’s okay!

It can be confusing to pay attention to the behind-the-scenes workings of an industry when you are just a consumer in that area. Let’s focus on why the GMP program should matter to you.

There are a few major reasons why having this program in place is so important for kratom consumers:

Gives you an easy way to check if your preferred vendors take safety seriously
Ensures that only safe and tested kratom is being sold
Helps track any contaminated batches and who bought them if that should happen
Builds up the community into a respected, safe place

Kratom’s status in the United States can be scary and confusing when the laws are different depending on where you live. A program like GMP helps to ensure that regardless of limited state laws and actions, the industry as a whole is being held to a level of high-quality.

Left Coast Kratom and GMP

Left Coast Kratom is a proud member of the GMP program. In addition to passing the initial screenings after we made sure that our business was in line with the guidelines, we continue to update our processes to follow the best practices as they are updated by the GMP program.

As time goes on, we believe that having such high standards in the industry is going to make it a better place for consumers and vendors alike.

Support The GMP Program

The best way that you, as a consumer, can support the GMP program is to make sure that you are only buying from vendors that are actively working towards accreditation or are, even better, already participants.

The complete list of qualified vendors is updated on AKA’s website regularly.

Buying from vendors on this list rather than those that do not take these protections seriously helps to ensure the future of safe kratom in America. When low-quality products make it to the market, they put the entire industry at risk.

Shopping Locally

Kratom lovers that love to shop for kratom locally can still follow this rule by checking out the list of vendors before they hit up their local shop. In the shop, you should be able to find more than one brand option for kratom. And if your local shop doesn’t carry any qualified vendors, you can strike up a conversation and find out why not!

In some cases, they may not be able to source from those vendors, or they may not be aware of the program’s importance. Either way, getting involved with kratom advocation at the local level is a great thing to do.

FAQ: Does Growing Kratom Have A Positive Environmental Impact?

April 15, 2020 by LCK

While kratom trees have been around for hundreds of years, the worldwide kratom industry is still very young. Supply chains, farming methodologies, and guidelines for safe kratom sales are being developed and altered every month. As of now, there are still a lot of changes happening regarding kratom in the world.

One area of the kratom industry that gets even less attention than the rest of the industry is the environmental impact that kratom farming has. All farming industries put some type of pressure on the land and locality; some programs are able to balance that out and some are not.

How sustainable is kratom, and are there any environmental impacts that the industry is having that we should be concerned about? These are questions that we would like to investigate more deeply as we move into a kratom-friendly world.

A Brief Kratom Introduction

To understand how kratom might have an effect on the environment, it is important to first be aware of what it is and why it has an impact on the environment at all.

Kratom is a tree. Also known as Mitryagyna speciosa, it is a tree in the coffee family. The tree has grown naturally for hundreds of years in many Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea.

The leaves of the plant have been used for both traditional and recreational purposes in those regions for many years. The leaves could be chewed on directly for pain relief and focus, or the teas could be turned into a tea to treat common ailments.

Today, this botanical is being used in the supplement industry for a wide variety of reasons. It’s growing popularity is leading to more focus on kratom, so the question about its long-term sustainability effect is very important.

Is kratom having an environmental impact? Is it helping or hurting the world and areas where it is grown?

Kratom: The Lesser Of The Evils?

One argument often made in favor of increasing the presence of kratom farming in these regions is that kratom is the lesser of the farming evils.

For many years, the palm oil and rubber industries kept this area alive. Additionally, forests are often being harvested for tree-based paper and timber, and that is leading to an overall reduction in space for forest animals and cultures.

Palm Oil

Palm oil production has played a huge role in the deforestation of forests in this region, and there is also evidence that palm oil production plays a large role in the problem of climate change.

Palm oil is the most highly produced oil – period. More than 60 million tons of the product are made each year, and it takes over 270 hundred million acres of land to do so. Creating these plantations leads to mass deforestation, and there are also many concerns about human rights abuses within the palm oil industry.

Palm oil is used in a huge variety of products that shoppers like you and I buy at the supermarket, and many of the world’s fuel sources contain palm oil even though it does not burn clean.

Many people believe that farming kratom instead of palm oil in regions where farming is a way-of-life could help to reduce the overall negative impact that palm oil has.

Deforestation

Another huge issue seen in these regions is deforestation. The rainforest in these areas is amazing and helps to create some of the amazing biodiversity that can be found in our world. The rainforest, however, is often destroyed to the benefit of the paper and timber industries.

Up to 70% of the paper in the United States already comes from plantations where timber is sustainably managed, but the same cannot be said in some regions of the world where these industries are less regulated. In Indonesia, 70% of all logging that happens is illegal, and yet, it continues.

Often, it is the rainforests that suffer from this addiction to logging. Recent activism in the regions has created small smarks of change, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

While paper and timber farming require that native rainforests be cut down, the same cannot be said about the kratom industry. Kratom can (and often is) harvested by hand, leaving the trees intact. The plant continues to grow, and the forest around the plant can thrive with it.

Kratom: An Option of Sustainability

One of the reasons it is so important to pay attention to where your kratom comes from is because you want to be sure it comes from a sustainable kratom farm. Despite the potential that kratom farms have to replace industries that are more harmful to the planet, kratom farms also have to commit to environmentally-friendly practices.

While it is a good start to replace industries that are naturally more harmful than growing kratom, it’s an even better choice to make sure that the kratom industry is as eco-friendly as possible.

For example, paying farmers to grow and harvest kratom in their backyards in smaller batches may be a great alternative to setting up huge kratom groves. By planting small amounts of trees in various yards rather than clearing natural forests to grow kratom, the world is a little less damaged.

Additionally, it’s important that kratom continues to be harvested by hand rather than having entire forests taken down just to get the kratom leaves. Handpicking is more common than other methods of harvesting, but that trend needs to continue.

Wild trees can also be harvested to get kratom in some areas; in this case, trees don’t even need to be planted. Through wild harvesting, even less of an impact is made on the forests that kratom is native to.

It’s Up To People Like Us

You have a choice to decide where you will buy your kratom from. We have a choice to decide where we will source our kratom from. Vendors like us and customers like you have the opportunity to make sure that we choose options that are as eco-friendly as possible.

Doing so ensures the future of the kratom industry as well as additional protection for the world around us. What will you do to do your part?

COVID-19 & Kratom: We Can Continue Shipping To You

March 31, 2020 by LCK

During this time of social distancing and great change, we’d like to let our customers know that we are still open for business and will continue shipping kratom and other items to you throughout this pandemic.

Though things are far from normal right now, we are doing our best to ensure that we can safely and efficiently continue to supply our customers while also protecting our employees.

Today, we’d like to share more about how we specifically have been responding to the COVID-19 risks as well as how we will continue to do so for as long as possible as we move back to a new normal.

How We Continue Online Shipping

Though you may not be able to visit your local store to buy kratom if you like to shop in person, you can continue to order from our website at this time. As an e-commerce company, we are able to continue business as long as we are taking the necessary precautions to protect our customers and employees.

Product Handling & Disinfecting Procedures

Here at Left Coast Kratom, we already follow a strict set of safety guidelines through the Good Manufacturing Practices program. These safety guidelines include protective gear, regular product testing, and deep cleaning as much as possible. We have expanded these guidelines to include the guidance promoted by the FDA and CDC for food safety at this time.

More specifically, we have done the following:

• Scheduled sanitation and deep cleaning more frequently
• Improved cleaning measures with the COVID-specific guidance from the FDA
• Amped up how frequently high-touch areas are sanitized
• Ensured packing is done with sanitized protective gear on

By doing these four things, we can make sure that our food-safe facility remains safe during this trying time. These actions help to protect our employees, and they also help to ensure that the packages we send out are safe, too.

Employee Safety & Social Distancing

We care deeply about the safety of our team here at Left Coast Kratom, so we have also taken steps to ensure that they are kept as safe as possible. At the same time, we continue to serve customers like you during this time.

There are a few specific things that we are doing to ensure this:

• Setting up social distancing policies within the facility
• Keeping delivery folks and non-essential visitors out of the facility
• Providing free transportation to those that use public transportation
• Providing extra PTO to our employees as needed
• Sharing guidance we receive from CDC, FDA, etc. with our employees

This situation is always evolving, and we will continue to change our policies as needed to ensure that our employees are kept as safe as possible.

We are also paying close attention to CDC guidance about how to handle any cases should they arise and will use their interim guidance to handle that situation if needed. The health of our team is very important to us, so we are doing our best to keep that in mind as we continue business during this period.

Is Receiving Mail Safe?

Some concerned customers have read about the virus living on surfaces for hours or even days, and this concerns them when they think about receiving packages. Even if we do our part to keep everything disinfected, it can be scary to not know if your packages are safe.

At this time, the CDC and FDA have not made any recommendations to stop receiving packages, and they are encouraging delivery and at-home shopping in order to avoid human-to-human contact.

Though there is some degree of risk of the virus living on a surface, the risk is significantly lower than it is through human-to-human contact, so delivery is going to be a better option.

There are a few things that can be done to give your packages an extra round of disinfection to ease any anxiety that you may have about the virus:

• Wash your hands thoroughly before and after touching all packages.
• Use a Lysol wipe or another high-alcohol content wipe to wipe down the outside of all packages when you receive them. Alcohol break down the fat layer of the virus and causes it to fall apart.
• If you do not have any wipes available, you can leave your packages to sit a designated area for 1-2 days before opening it.
• Order less frequently so that you have fewer packages to disinfect.
• Keep packages in one area rather than carrying them through your home before you disinfect them. If possible, disinfect them outside and then come inside to wash your hands.

The virus has been shown to be able to live on cardboard for up to 24 hours in ideal conditions; real-world conditions are unlikely to allow it to live that long. Still, you can provide yourself additional peace-of-mind by taking the time to disinfect your packages.

COVID Support

Beyond updating our internal policies to ensure that we are handling, packing, and shipping your orders as safely as possible, we are also proud to share that we are doing our best to support the community as well.

In response to the pandemic, we have increased our regular donations to these organizations:

• Outside In
• The Pixie Project
• KIVA
• Dads4Life

Additionally, we are continuing our regular support of AKA and AHPA for the work that they do to ensure the safety of kratom lovers around the world, all year long.

Our COVID Policies

If you would like to see our latest response to the COVID-19 situation, please check out this dedicated landing page. Here, we will continue to update any changes in our business that are caused by the ongoing pandemic should they arise.

If you have any specific questions or want to get into contact with questions about our COVID-19 response or anything else, you can contact us through our website here. We have limited our phone operations due to COVID-19, but you can still use our live chat and web contact features!

How (And Why!) To Use Your Credit Card To Buy Bitcoin

March 25, 2020 by LCK

While buying kratom online is very convenient, you might notice that many kratom vendors do not accept debit or credit card payments at this time. Some sites still accept these payment methods, but many vendors like us here at Left Coast Kratom are sticking to more secure payment methods.

Specifically, we encourage our customers to consider using cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, to buy kratom when shopping online!

There are a few specific reasons for this. Mainly, there is a chance that your credit card or debit card company includes more fees than when working with cryptocurrency. Additionally, purchasing via cryptocurrency is more secure and ensures an added layer of privacy when shopping online. Finally, some people may be afraid to use their credit cards to buy kratom because of its legal status being in a gray area; using Bitcoin instead keeps your anonymity.

Still, using cryptocurrency if you aren’t familiar with it can be confusing. Today, we’ll share how to use your credit card to buy Bitcoin so that you can complete online transactions in a safe, secure way.

An Introduction to Cryptocurrency

Most people have heard the terms Bitcoin and cryptocurrency tossed around before, but not everyone is familiar with what these words really mean. Cryptocurrency is still a relatively new phenomenon, so it is understandable that not everyone is eager to get involved with this industry.

A lot of people think of cryptocurrency as digital cash. While this is an apt way to describe it, it is also not exactly accurate. Cryptop currency is almost like an online token that can be purchased using another form of currency, such as US dollars.

Blockchain, a decentralized system that records and manages all transactions, is used to monitor and set up cryptocurrency systems.

People like cryptocurrency because of the high level of both security and anonymity. Additionally, cryptocurrency is not managed by any specific bank or government, so it is a bit more efficient in terms of costs and fees.

Using A Credit Card To Get Bitcoin

To be able to shop online using Bitcoin, you will need to store your Bitcoin in some type of wallet. There are a few different types of wallets, but the easiest type of wallet to get for Bitcoin beginners is an online wallet. This wallet is a funded account that you can use to pay via Bitcoin while shopping online.

There are many different online Bitcoin providers hosts, such as Coinmama and Coinbase. We recommend Coinbase for wallets and Coinmama for buying Bitcoin with a credit card.

The easiest ways to fund your wallet are to use a bank account or a debit card. Wire transfers are also a great option if you want to fund a wallet with a large transaction amount.

What can be more complicated to do, however, is to fund your Bitcoin wallet with a credit card. While this used to be very simple, it’s not as easy to do because credit card companies have placed some restrictions on how Bitcoin reloads can and cannot be done.

Set Up Your Coinbase Wallet

Before you purchase any Bitcoin, you’ll want to set up a wallet. Credit-card friendly provider Coinmama does not offer a wallet or store any coin for you, so you need to have this in advance.

We recommend using Coinbase for a third-party online wallet holder. If you want something even more secure, do some research into hardware wallets and get yourself set up with a hardware wallet.

Funding Your Wallet With A CC on Coinmama

Coinmama is a great option for funding a Bitcoin wallet via a credit card. While they do require a fee to be able to fund the account with a credit card, this is something that you will see from every provider. This is because credit cards have higher processing fees, so those fees are passed on to you in order to be able to fund your account.

Here are the steps that you need to follow to make a Coinmama account and fund the wallet:

• First, register for a Coinmama account on their website.
• At the end of the registration process, you will need to verify your identity. This must be done before you can fully fund the account.
• Choose the type of cryptocurrency that you want to purchase (Bitcoin).
• Decide if you want to buy one of the site’s packages or a specific amount.
• Enter the public key for the wallet you want the Bitcoin to be sent to.
• Choose your payment method.
• Confirm your wallet address, pay, and then receive the funds immediately.

Paying With Bitcoin on Left Coast Kratom

Now that you have money in your Bitcoin wallet, let’s move through the steps to pay with Bitcoin on Left Coast Kratom.

First, add the items that you are interested in purchasing to your cart. Once you have everything that you want to get in your cart, click the cart in the upper right-hand corner of the page and visit the cart page.

On the cart page, click “check out.”

From here, you will be given the option to sign up for an account, sign in, or continue as a guest. While you are welcome to continue as a guest, we recommend signing up for an account if you don’t have one yet because you can earn discounts that you might not otherwise qualify for.

On the next page, you will be prompted to fill out your personal, billing, and shipping information. Once you’ve completed these sections, select your shipping method of choice.

Finally, it will be time to choose your payment method. You have three options on Left Coast Kratom:

E-check
Bitcoin
Pay with Zelle

Select Bitcoin to pay with Bitcoin. A 10% discount will automatically be applied to your order whenever you use Bitcoin, so that will be updated when you move to the next step. Make sure that you have your Bitcoin wallet set up before you check out.

At check out, you will be sent both a QR code and a link to the Bitcoin address you need to pay the money to. Visit your Bitcoin wallet to send your payment. Once the payment is confirmed, your order will be packed and shipped on the same day!

US Kratom Research: Congress Funds New Kratom Research

March 11, 2020 by LCK

In December 2019, Congress passed the Appropriations Bill to help adjust and set the budget for the 2020 fiscal year. Each year, this bill can help to set up where money within the government will go and what types of output we can expect.

This year, the appropriations bill included specific distinctions for funding additional research on substances like marijuana, kratom, and cannabinol. Depending on how that research funding is divided and spent in the academic world, there is a good chance that we will see some new studies and results about kratom this year.

Kratom research is very important for the future of safe kratom usage in America. While kratom is a safe substance, proper monitoring and safety requirements for kratom companies could be improved if there was more solid research about this unique substance.

Additionally, there is a good chance that kratom could be developed into an opioid alternative, so more research into kratom could do wonders for the current opioid crisis in America.

Let’s review the Appropriations Bill and see what exactly is covered in the agreement.

What’s New In These Bills?

On December 17, 2019, the House passed through some legislation that would finalize the twelve fiscal funding bills needed for 2020. The bills they passed went through some further changes in the Senate before being passed. Now, H.R. 1865 and H.R. 1158 are in place and ready to set up the budgets for most government-funded organizations in the 2020 fiscal year.

These bills are the result of bipartisan negotiations, so they cover a wide variety of areas in a very balanced way.

While the various areas covered in this fiscal planning is very interesting, we are more interested in some research-focused funding that has been set aside in these government plans.

Kratom, Cannabis, and Other Natural Substances

Research allocated in these bills is set up to allow for more research on kratom, cannabis, and other natural substances. While it has become more and more common for these types of allocations to be made, it’s always great to see that there is a continued interest in finding out more about these substances that we are still working to fully understand.

Kratom Allocations

The opioid crisis an ongoing problem in America, and some politicians and activists have been trying to find ways to improve the situation for years. One popular opinion is that we need to find opioid alternatives that are less dangerous and addictive, so ongoing studies are focused on doing just that.

In the FY2020 Appropriations decisions, Congress set aside a minimum of $1 million dollars to be used in the search for an opioid alternative. In particular, the bills mentioned that kratom and CBD should be researched as potential opioid alternatives.

Kratom has been studied to limited degrees in America because the laws about kratom are not clear in every state and are very unclear on a national scale. For that reason, it is hard for kratom to be properly studied. With this new allocation that specifically includes kratom as a potential alternative to opioids for pain relief and other medical uses.

Research like this could be a major turning point for the future of kratom in America, so we will be keeping an eye on any potential studies that will come out of this funding.

Cannabis Inclusions

Another interesting inclusion in these appropriations was CBD. In addition to requestion that kratom is studied as an alternative for opioids, the National Institute for Health was also tasked with doing more research about whether or not CBD-based medications could be used as an alternative to opioids as well.

Congress also tasked the National Institute on Drug Abuse to analyze why cannabis is still being listed as a scheduled drug and what can be done to change this status. As of now, it is difficult to do research about cannabis as a federally-funded scientist because of this scheduled status. Should that status change, research will be able to happen more frequently.

Hemp Farming Specifics

Another area that was allocated some extra money was the hemp farming industry. The hemp industry has been struggling to come as strongly as it could despite the support provided by the Farming Act of 2018. This could be because the tenants of that act have not yet been fully enforced, so Congress set aside $16.5 million to ensure that the hemp industry can grow.

Hemp, as you might know, is an industrial crop that is used for industrial and manufacturing purposes. While hemp was banned as a crop many years ago, it is now being encouraged as a cash crop for many farmers in America.

Additional Points of Interest

The points made about kratom and CBD are great to hear, but these aren’t the only things that were decided in these appropriations. As mentioned, these appropriations are setting up the budget for the 2020 fiscal year, and that budget includes much more than research and provisions about natural substances.

Here are just a few of the interesting allocations made throughout these bills:

$10 million to research and prevent antibiotic-resistance
Funding money to promote health literacy
Increase in funding for the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Over $7 billion for the decennial 2020 Census
Additional money to include Puerto Rico and U.S. territories in the Census
8% increase in funding for the CDC
Dedicated CDC funding on gun research for the first time in 20 years

As you can see, there are a lot of considerations made throughout these appropriations that cover a wide variety of areas. It’s great to see kratom being included as an important topic worthy of additional funding alongside such important issues.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how frequently more unique and inventive studies about natural substances like kratom and CBD will be included in federally funded research opportunities. These substances have been studied in a limited fashion, so additional studies could revolutionize various aspects of the medical world.

Only time will tell what these studies will find!

Neighborhood Alert: How To Find Kratom Near You

February 26, 2020 by LCK

Most kratom lovers are used to shopping for kratom online, connecting with other kratom fans online, and generally keeping all of their kratom-related activities in cyberspace. That, however, is not a requirement anymore.

Sticking to online spaces for all-things-kratom made sense up until a few years ago when the tide of laws about kratom use and legality in the US began to change. As kratom is legally protected and regulated in some states now, there are many areas where you can visit a local store to do your shopping.

Are you reading to learn how to find kratom near you? Are you excited at the idea of being able to buy kratom instantly rather than ordering it online and waiting for it to arrive?

There are benefits to being able to buy kratom in stores (just as there are benefits to buying online). Find out what these pros and cons are, and then learn how to find kratom stores near you.

The Pros of Buying Local

Considering buying kratom from a local hangout? There are some huge benefits to shopping this way, but you need to know what to expect.

When you buy in person, there are a few key benefits:

Get personalized assistance
See what you’re buying
Meet fellow kratom users

First, it’s possible that you’ll be able to get personalized attention and recognition in the moment while you are shopping for kratom at a local store. While you can get assistance online, this often involves a waiting period and may not be as fulfilling as having a discussion in a store.

Second, you can actually browse through the available stock to decide what you want to buy. While choosing the right kratom product for you isn’t necessarily about looks, it can be rewarding to see and touch the packages before you purchase anything.

If you aren’t sure what you want at all, going into a shop and simply choosing something that seems appealing to your mood that day will get you started on your kratom journey. Plus, you’ll be able to browse what is all available at the shop in a relatively short amount of time!

Finally, hanging out at a shop that sells kratom is sure to hook you up with locals in the community who are also fans of kratom. As it can be overwhelming to learn about kratom and the ongoing legal issues with kratom, having a community of supportive friends can be life-changing. Be sure to ask about any local kratom organizations while in the shop!

The Pros of Buying Online

Not everyone is going to like shopping in person, and that’s okay, too! There are great benefits to sticking to online purchasing, such as:

Easier to compare prices
No rush
Vetting vendors may be easier

First, it is much easier to compare prices between different vendors and products when you are shopping online, as you can visit multiple online storefronts at one time. This means that you may be able to get a better deal than you would find in person. You might even find a larger selection of options when shopping online from kratom vendors than you would in person.

Second, there isn’t any deadline or pressure to buy something in a certain amount of time. You might not feel comfortable mulling over your choice for hours in a physical shop, but you can leave your shopping windows open and come back with a decision on your own time when shopping online.

Finally, some people find that it is easier to vet vendors to ensure that they are following quality manufacturing practices when shopping online. Seeing accreditations and verifying that they are legitimate is somewhat less overwhelming online. Of course, it is also possible to check these things for a physical retail location as well.

Where To Find Kratom Near You

If you have decided that buying kratom at a store near you would fit in with your current plans better than buying online, it’s time to learn how to find where you can do your shopping. You might not be familiar with any kratom-specific shops in the area, but there are more and more shops that are now carrying kratom each month.

The most common shops that stock kratom include:

Smoke shops
CBD shops
Health supplement shops

Are you familiar with any stores like these in your area? If not, you can simply look online to see what shops show up when you search for keywords like “kratom,” “CBD,” and “smoke shop.” From there, give the shops a call and see if they can point you in the right direction!

Consider Local Legalities

Has kratom been clearly legalized and regulated in your area? If so, it should be fairly easy to find out where to buy kratom locally. If you aren’t sure, do a quick search of your state’s name and “kratom laws” to find out what the status is.

If your area is not yet kratom-friendly, you might have to stick to buying online for the time being. Keep in mind, however, that even if kratom is clearly legalized it might not be illegal, either. If the laws are still unclear, call your local CBD and other shops to find out if they know of anywhere that reliably stocks kratom.

Remember: Check Their Reputation

As you should do when shopping from any kratom vendor, it is important to check the reputation of the seller. Where do they source their kratom from? Can they guarantee its quality in any way? Do they buy from AKA-approved sources?

It’s important to ensure that you are buying your kratom from trustworthy vendors, so do your due diligence and research the shop before you commit to buying anything. Regardless of whether you decide to shop online or to visit a local kratom store, be sure that you are doing the necessary research to keep yourself safe.

As more protections and guidelines for the kratom industry are created, this will be a less crucial step. For now, however, you must keep this in mind.