Kratom Legal Status by State

Kratom is legal in most of the United States, prohibited outright in ten states, and regulated under kratom-specific consumer protection laws in a growing number of others. California blocks its sale by a different route, through food-safety law rather than drug scheduling. A handful of cities and counties ban it even where their state permits it. This page tracks all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

This has been the most active two years for kratom legislation since the plant arrived in the American market, and the movement has gone in both directions. If you last checked this page before September 2026, these are the changes that matter:

• Louisiana — banned outright, August 2025 (SB 154 / Act 41). Previously age-restricted.
• California — from October 2025, CDPH began treating kratom and 7-OH products as adulterated under state food and drug law, making them unlawful to sell for consumption statewide. Enforcement began in February 2026.
• Connecticut — ban took effect 25 March 2026.
• Rhode Island — lifted its ban on 1 April 2026 and replaced it with a regulated, licensed market. The first state ever to reverse a kratom prohibition.
• Kansas and Tennessee — both bans took effect 1 July 2026.
• North Dakota — an emergency executive order banned kratom entirely in August 2026; HB 1628, signed 4 September 2026, replaced it with a licensed 21+ framework. Sales stay prohibited until the rules are written.
• Massachusetts — emergency public health order designating kratom Schedule I, in force from 28 August 2026.

The three statuses, explained

Every state on this page falls into one of three categories. The distinction matters, because “legal” and “unregulated” are not the same thing, and the difference affects what you can actually buy.

Prohibited

The state has scheduled kratom’s alkaloids as controlled substances or otherwise banned possession and sale. Buying, possessing or having it shipped to you in these states may carry criminal penalties. Reputable vendors will not ship there, and any vendor willing to is telling you something about how they treat every other rule.

Regulated

The state permits kratom but has passed kratom-specific legislation governing how it is sold — most commonly some form of Kratom Consumer Protection Act. These laws vary in detail, but the common provisions are a minimum purchase age of 21, mandatory labelling of alkaloid content, prohibitions on adulterated or synthetically enhanced product, and registration requirements for vendors.

From a buyer’s point of view, regulated states are the best place to be. The labelling requirements alone make it far easier to tell what you are actually buying.

Legal, no kratom-specific statute

The state has not scheduled kratom and has not passed legislation specific to it. Sale and possession are lawful, but there is no state-level requirement for testing, labelling or age verification. Quality control falls entirely on the vendor, which is why third-party lab results matter so much — see how we assess products for what to look for.

Kratom legal status by state

Where kratom is prohibited

Ten states currently prohibit kratom outright: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin. Rhode Island was on this list until April 2026 and is not any more.

The mechanism differs between them. Most have scheduled mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as controlled substances; Indiana reached the same result by classifying kratom as a synthetic drug; Massachusetts acted through an emergency public health order rather than legislation. The practical effect is the same. Possession and sale are unlawful, and that includes having it shipped to an address in those states.

Two states sit outside that pattern and are worth understanding separately:

• California has not scheduled kratom as a controlled substance. Instead the Department of Public Health treats kratom and 7-OH products as adulterated food under the Sherman Food, Drug & Cosmetic Law, which makes them unlawful to manufacture, distribute or sell for consumption anywhere in the state. The practical result for a buyer is much the same: reputable vendors will not ship there.
• North Dakota is mid-transition. An emergency order banned kratom outright in August 2026; HB 1628 then replaced it in September with a licensed market for adults 21 and over. Until the administrative rules are finished, sales remain prohibited.

Local bans in otherwise legal states

This is the part people miss, and it is the most common way an otherwise careful buyer gets caught out. Several cities and counties prohibit kratom even though their state permits it:

• San Diego and Oceanside, California — prohibited by city ordinance, on top of the statewide sale prohibition.
• Sarasota County, Florida — prohibited by county ordinance, despite Florida regulating kratom at state level.
• Denver, Colorado — has applied restrictions on sale for human consumption.
• Jerseyville, Alton and Edwardsville, Illinois — prohibited by local ordinance.
• Several Mississippi counties and municipalities, including Union County and Columbus — Mississippi has seen more local-level bans than any other state.

Local ordinances change more quietly than state law and are rarely reported. If you live in a state that permits kratom, it is still worth a search for your city or county name before you order.

What a Kratom Consumer Protection Act actually does

The KCPA framework was developed as an alternative to prohibition — the argument being that banning kratom pushes buyers toward an unregulated market, whereas regulating it addresses the actual documented risks. Those risks have overwhelmingly been about contamination and adulteration rather than the plant itself.

Provisions vary by state, but a typical act does four things:

• Sets a minimum age, usually 21.
• Requires accurate labelling, including alkaloid content, so a buyer can tell what is in the product.
• Prohibits adulterated and synthetically enhanced product — in particular, product with artificially elevated 7-hydroxymitragynine, which is where most of the genuine safety concern sits.
• Imposes penalties on vendors who sell non-compliant product.

If you have the choice, buying in a regulated state is materially safer, because the labelling requirement gives you something to check the lab results against.

Buying and shipping across state lines

The legal question that matters is the law where the product is delivered, not where the vendor is based. A vendor operating lawfully in a state that permits kratom cannot make it lawful for you to receive it in a state that prohibits it.

Reputable vendors maintain shipping restrictions that reflect this and will block orders to prohibited states and localities at checkout. A vendor that ships anywhere without checking is not doing you a favour — it is a reliable signal about the rest of their compliance.

Common questions

Is kratom federally legal in the United States?

Kratom is not a federally controlled substance. The DEA proposed scheduling it in 2016 and withdrew the proposal after public and congressional objection. It remains federally uncontrolled, which is why regulation has happened at state level. The FDA has not approved kratom for any medical use and has issued import alerts and warnings about it.

Can I travel with kratom between states?

Carrying kratom into a state where it is prohibited exposes you to that state’s law regardless of where you bought it. If your route crosses a prohibited state, that is a real risk and not a theoretical one.

Does a state ban apply to all kratom products?

Where a state has scheduled the alkaloids themselves, the ban covers any product containing them — powder, capsules, extracts, shots and blends alike. Product format makes no difference.

How often does this change?

Frequently. Multiple state legislatures consider kratom bills in any given session, and local ordinances change with no notice at all. That is why this page carries a review date, and why we would rather you treat it as a prompt to verify than as a final answer.

How to check your state’s current law yourself

Because this page can only ever be as current as its last review, it is worth knowing how to verify the position directly. It takes about five minutes.

1. Search your state legislature’s site for “mitragynine”. Every state legislature publishes its statutes online with a search function. Searching the alkaloid name rather than “kratom” is more reliable, because scheduling laws name the compound, not the plant. If mitragynine appears in your state’s controlled substances schedule, kratom is prohibited there.
2. Check your state attorney general’s consumer advisories. Where a state has passed a Kratom Consumer Protection Act, the attorney general’s office usually publishes guidance on what vendors must do, which tells you what to expect on a compliant label.
3. Search your city and county ordinances. This is the step people skip and the one that catches them. Search your municipal code for “kratom” — most cities publish their code online through a provider such as Municode or American Legal Publishing.
4. Check for pending bills, not just enacted law. A bill in committee is not law, but it tells you the position may change within the year. State legislature sites list bills by keyword and session.

If that check contradicts anything on this page, we would genuinely like to know — send us the citation and we will correct the table and re-date the page.