A. The owner or manager of a vendor who violates any of the provisions of Section 3 or 4 of this act shall be punished by an administrative penalty of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for a first offense and not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for a second offense. Upon a third offense, the vendor shall be prohibited from selling kratom products for a period of three (3) years. If the State Department of Health receives a complaint that the owner or manager of a vendor is selling kratom products during the period of suspension, then the State Department of Health shall forward the information to the applicable district attorney's office. If the owner or manager of a vendor commits such violation during the three-year period, the person shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a term of not more than one (1) year, or by a fine of not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. A person aggrieved by a violation of Section 3 or 4 of this act may bring a cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for damages resulting from that violation including, but not limited to, economic, noneconomic or consequential damages.
C. A vendor does not violate the provisions of Section 3 or 4 of this act if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the vendor relied in good faith on the representation of a manufacturer, processor, packager or distributor that the food product or dietary ingredient was a kratom product.
Added by Laws 2021, c. 500, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2021.