If this question is urgent for you, these come before the rest of the page.
If someone is difficult to wake, is not breathing normally, is having a seizure, or is unresponsive, call 911.
1-800-222-1222. Poison Control, around the clock, for a reaction that worries you or a question about a product you are holding.
988. The crisis lifeline, anywhere in the United States, by call or text.
Treatment. The federal treatment locator, findtreatment.gov.
Two things stated once. Kratom is not a treatment for opioid use disorder or for opioid or kratom withdrawal; the medicines with an evidence base for opioid use disorder are buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone. And every clinical question this page raises belongs with a clinician rather than with us.
Checked November 5, 2026 against the Federal Register through its 8:45 a.m. Eastern filing, the bill records of Congress, and each state's or city's own documents.
In force, federal. Kratom leaf and mitragynine are not controlled under the Controlled Substances Act. MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16 have been in Schedule I since August 26, 2026, in any amount, until August 26, 2028 unless extended or replaced.
Proposed, federal. DEA's notices of October 14, 2026 would control the concentrated minor alkaloid and MGPI above a threshold, and keep MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I. Orders may come "on or after November 13, 2026": a floor, not a start date. None had been published or put on public inspection. July's notice on the minor alkaloid set August 5 the same way, and no order followed.
Congress. The End Gas Station Heroin Act (S. 5383, H.R. 10272) is at committee referral. It would not schedule mitragynine.
States. Bans in force, ten by our count: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts (an emergency order from August 28, 2026, for up to a year), Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin. North Dakota rejected a total ban, but its governor's office said sales stay prohibited until new rules exist; we found no notice of adoption. Kentucky's sales ban starts July 1, 2027. Rhode Island has licensed kratom since April 1, 2026 and bars delivery to consumers.
Cities and pending. Philadelphia Bill 260163 is effective from November 12, 2026, its permit section awaiting regulations. Texas bill filing runs from November 9, 2026, for a session convening January 12, 2027. Pennsylvania HB 2657 and Michigan HB 5537 sit in Senate committees; Oklahoma and Mississippi officials have stated intentions, not bills.
Next review February 5, 2027, or the day DEA publishes an order.
Who wrote this, and what we sell. GRH Kratom. On November 5, 2026 our catalog listed 35 products: kratom powders, capsules and blends under our own name, kratom extracts and shots from King K and MIT45, and kava and kava-kratom drinks and a kava powder from GUD Tonics and three other brands. Every rule here touches what we sell, leaf powder as well as extracts, and this page makes no claim about where any product of ours falls. Our earlier ban posts were last updated between June and September 2026, before DEA's notices of October 14, 2026. No product or affiliate links. To correct a line, use the contact page on this site.
Is kratom illegal? As of November 5, 2026 there is no federal kratom ban on the leaf, and most states do not ban it either; the answer turns on where you are and on which plant or compound a rule names. Kratom and mitragynine, its main alkaloid, are not controlled under the Controlled Substances Act, three related compounds are, and DEA has proposed controlling a minor alkaloid, one that in DOJ's words occurs naturally in kratom "at relatively low levels", when it is concentrated above a threshold. Ten states ban kratom outright, by our count.
Is there a federal kratom ban? The leaf, three compounds, a proposal and a bill
The leaf and mitragynine: not controlled. DEA's kratom fact sheet says "Kratom is not controlled under the Controlled Substances Act; however, there may be some state regulations or prohibitions against the possession and use of kratom." Unscheduled is not approved. FDA's kratom page, current as of December 2, 2025, says kratom "is not lawfully marketed in the U.S. as a drug product, a dietary supplement, or a food additive in conventional food." Nor is it a safety verdict, as our page on whether kratom is safe sets out.
Three compounds: Schedule I since August 26, 2026. A DEA temporary scheduling order (FR Doc 2026-17429) put MGPI (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl), MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I, "effective August 26, 2026, until August 26, 2028." It set no threshold: possession of "any quantity" in a way the law does not authorize became unlawful. DOJ's release of October 9, 2026 adds that HHS found information "suggesting MGPI may also occur at trace levels in some botanical or kratom-derived products." So the documents do not put every leaf product outside the order.
The October 14 proposal. Both notices are labeled "Proposed amendment; notice of intent": proposals, not orders. FR Doc 2026-20943 would place the concentrated minor alkaloid and MGPI in Schedule I when either, or both combined, crosses a threshold with two limbs joined by "OR". One limb is more than 1 milligram per gram in a solid, or more than 1 milligram per milliliter in a liquid preparation. The other is a ratio: the mass of mitragynine divided by the mass of the minor alkaloid, MGPI or both "is less than 100." Either limb is enough. FR Doc 2026-20942 would keep MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I "without change", and the August order on MGPI stays in effect until a new order is published and the old one is withdrawn.
Below the line is not a safety finding: "neither HHS nor DEA has made a finding that these substances are safe to use at below-threshold levels."
The November 13 floor. The notices say the orders "will be published in the Federal Register on or after November 13, 2026", thirty days after publication, as the statute requires. Nothing happens automatically that day. An order takes effect the day it is published and lasts two years, with a possible one-year extension. July shows a floor can pass quietly. DEA's notice then named August 5, 2026; in October, DOJ said DEA "had not yet issued a temporary scheduling order" for the minor alkaloid. DEA says it "is withdrawing" that notice; no withdrawal had been published by November 5.
The bill. The End Gas Station Heroin Act, identical as S. 5383 (introduced August 8, 2026) and H.R. 10272 (September 3, 2026), had not moved past committee referral when we checked. Its text would add the minor alkaloid and MGPI to Schedule I, exempting naturally occurring amounts only within a limit for the product's form, 1 milligram per gram for a solid or per milliliter for a liquid, and only if their combined amount does not exceed "1 part per 100 parts mitragynine by mass". Synthesized or concentrated material gets no exemption. It does not schedule mitragynine, which appears only in that ratio; trackers that say otherwise are wrong on the text. Its long title names MGM-15 and MGM-16. Its operative text never does.
Where kratom is banned: ten states, by our count
No government count is current, and none agrees with another, so we counted. A state is listed if, in its own documents read on November 5, 2026, a statute, rule or agency order prohibits or schedules kratom or mitragynine statewide and is in force. Rules that reach only the minor alkaloid or synthetic compounds do not count, and neither do local bans. That gives ten.
| State | Instrument | In force from | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Code section 20-2-23, per the Attorney General's letter | By March 24, 2026, the letter's date | Mitragynine and the minor alkaloid; products "cannot be possessed, sold, or offered for sale in this state". |
| Arkansas | Department of Health list of controlled substances | November 2015, the date the list gives | Mitragynine and the minor alkaloid, Schedule I. |
| Connecticut | Department of Consumer Protection regulations | April 2, 2026 | Kratom, "including its leaves, stem and any extracts", and the minor alkaloid. |
| Indiana | Indiana Code 35-31.5-2-321 and 35-48-2-4(g) | In the 2026 Indiana Code | Mitragynine and the minor alkaloid, listed as a "synthetic drug" in Schedule I. |
| Kansas | SB 430 for mitragynine; HB 2365 for the minor alkaloid | July 1, 2026 | Both, Schedule I. |
| Louisiana | Act 41 of 2025, per the state's advisory of July 30, 2025 | August 1, 2025 | In the advisory's words, "the possession and distribution of Kratom are now illegal". |
| Massachusetts | Public Health emergency order, 105 CMR 726.000 | August 28, 2026, for "up to a year" | Kratom, Schedule I; local boards of health may remove products. |
| Tennessee | Public Chapter 950 (HB 1649) | July 1, 2026 | "knowingly possessing or distributing kratom", in a state agency's summary. |
| Vermont | Department of Health Regulated Drug Rule | Rule effective July 15, 2019 | Mitragynine and the minor alkaloid, as regulated drugs. |
| Wisconsin | Statutes 961.14(7)(mk) and (mL) | In the statutes as updated to January 30, 2026 | Mitragynine and the minor alkaloid, Schedule I. |
LAPPA, a nonprofit that summarizes state laws, counted six bans in January 2026, before Connecticut, Kansas, Tennessee and Massachusetts acted. Connecticut's consumer protection department called it "the seventh state" in May, and North Dakota's governor's office said "Nine states have banned kratom" in September. DEA's October notice names our ten, framed as states that have prohibited consumption of the minor alkaloid.
Compound-only rules are not kratom bans. LAPPA listed Florida, Ohio and the District of Columbia as scheduling only the minor alkaloid in January 2026, and New Jersey scheduled three synthetic compounds, not the leaf, in September 2026, as our page on New Jersey's 2026 scheduling explains.
States that regulate kratom instead of banning it
Outside those ten, "kratom legal" can still mean age limits, licenses and product rules, and in one state it may not yet mean for sale.
Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Kratom Act, in force since April 1, 2026, bars the health director from keeping mitragynine or the minor alkaloid in Schedule I and allows retail sale only at a licensed fixed location. "Delivery of kratom and kratom products to retail purchasers is prohibited." Not a ban state, then, but an online seller cannot lawfully deliver kratom to a consumer there.
North Dakota. The House rejected a total ban, SB 2408, by 46 to 47 on September 4, 2026. The governor signed HB 1628 the same day; it "bans the sale, possession and use of synthetic kratom products" and limits natural kratom to buyers 21 and older, through licensed retailers. But the governor's release adds: "The sale of all kratom and kratom products remains prohibited in North Dakota until administrative rules are implemented in accordance with HB 1628." We found no notice of adopted rules by November 5, 2026, and could not confirm it either way. Neither a ban state nor an open market.
Mississippi. HB 1077, in force since July 1, 2025, sets the age at 21, puts kratom "behind the retailer's counter", requires registration with the Department of Revenue, excludes synthesized alkaloids, and caps the minor alkaloid at 1 percent of total alkaloids and "one-half (0.5) milligram per container". It regulates; it does not ban, though it lets cities and counties keep bans adopted before July 1, 2025 and adopt new ones.
Age 21 is the common thread: Mississippi, North Dakota, Philadelphia, Suffolk County in New York and Ontario in California all set it, and Pennsylvania's bill would too.
City and county kratom bans, and rules that only sound like one
Philadelphia. Bill 260163 passed City Council 16 to 0 on June 4, 2026, was signed on September 15, 2026, and is effective from November 12, 2026, except a permit section that waits for the Department's regulations. It covers "intoxicating substances", meaning intoxicating hemp products and kratom products. From November 12 it makes it unlawful to sell them to anyone under 21, to sell kratom products with a synthetic alkaloid or with the minor alkaloid above 2 percent of their alkaloids, and, in section 9-6702(3), to sell "any intoxicating substance that is not considered appropriate for use as a dietary supplement or a safe food additive" nor approved under federal food and drug law. Each day of a violation is a separate offense.
The ordinance never says "ban". But section 9-6702(3) ties lawful sale to FDA status, and FDA's view is that kratom "is not lawfully marketed as a dietary supplement and cannot be lawfully added to conventional foods". What that means for a seller there is a question for a lawyer. The ordinance also groups kratom with intoxicating hemp; for how the two plants differ, see our page on whether kratom is like weed.
Rules that sound like bans. Local Law 23-2026 in Suffolk County, New York, in effect since August 17, 2026, restricts rather than bans: age 21, no synthesized kratom, nothing combustible, vaporized or injected, a 2 percent cap on the minor alkaloid in foods and drinks, and batch testing. Ontario, California, heads a code section "Prohibition on sale and distribution of kratom and 7-OH products." Its text, effective April 16, 2026, sets age 21, a 2 percent cap and a synthetics ban.
Local bans. DEA's notice says "Other states, like Illinois, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Tennessee, have bans in some localities", without naming them. We list only what we could read at a government source.
Is kratom getting banned in more states? What is pending for 2027
Except the last item, nothing in this section is law.
Texas. In the Texas Legislative Council's words, bill filing "begins the first Monday after the general election preceding the session", so after the November 3 election, filing for the 90th Legislature runs from November 9, 2026. The Legislature's directory says it "convenes in regular session at noon on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year": January 12, 2027. Both dates are our arithmetic on those rules.
The 2025 attempt shows how bills change. SB 1868, as introduced in 2025, would have added "kratom and kratom products" to Penalty Group 1 of the Texas Controlled Substances Act. The Senate-passed version of April 24, 2025 regulated leaf kratom instead: age 21, no prepackaged kratom drinks, no "pill or tablet that contains kratom", and kratom alkaloids "other than within kratom" scheduled. It died in the House Public Health Committee, where it went on April 28, 2025.
Pennsylvania. HB 2657, the "Regulation and Oversight of Kratom Act", passed the House 202 to 0 on October 5, 2026 and was sent to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on October 13. It would regulate, not ban: only dried leaf or leaf powder, alone or in an inert capsule, with no extract and no more than 0.05 percent of the minor alkaloid by dry weight, would be lawful, and anything containing MGPI would be a prohibited synthetic or semi-synthetic kratom product. It would also impose a 12 percent retail tax.
Michigan. HB 5537 would make it a misdemeanor to "grow, synthesize, sell, offer to sell, give, import, or distribute kratom or a synthetic variant of kratom", unless FDA has approved it. It passed the House 56 to 48 on March 18, 2026 and went to the Senate Government Operations Committee on March 24, where it still sat on November 5. It has no possession offense.
Iowa. HF 2133, to make kratom Schedule I, passed the House 69 to 26 on March 17, 2026. The Senate never passed it.
Oklahoma. Rep. Tim Turner said on September 18, 2026 that he intends to pursue legislation placing "dangerous kratom alkaloids and concentrated or synthetically enhanced compounds", among them the minor alkaloid, MGPI and MGM-15, in Schedule I. On November 5, 2026 it was an intention, not a filed bill. Bills are due January 14, 2027.
Mississippi. Attorney General Lynn Fitch's stated plan, as NewsNation reported it, is to promote legislation to ban kratom in all forms. We did not find it on her office's website, and there was no bill text on November 5, 2026: an intention.
Kentucky and Massachusetts. Kentucky's sales ban, moved from January 1, 2027, starts July 1, 2027, when KRS 217.2202 bars processors and retailers from selling "any kratom, kratom extract, or kratom product"; it does not reach possession. Massachusetts' order runs "for up to a year" from August 28, 2026: by our arithmetic, to August 28, 2027 at the latest, unless renewed or replaced.
How to read a kratom ban headline
In force or proposed? A notice of intent is not an order, a referred bill is a proposal, "on or after" is a floor, and an announcement is an intention. A headline saying federal rules were eased, read on November 5, 2026, describes a proposal: MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16 were still in Schedule I in any amount.
Which target? The leaf, mitragynine, the concentrated minor alkaloid and synthetic compounds are four different things. All ten state bans name kratom or mitragynine; the federal proposal and the bill would schedule the minor alkaloid and MGPI, not mitragynine, whatever some trackers say. Oklahoma's "Ban Kratom" release describes a planned bill naming three compounds.
Which yardstick? Philadelphia's 2 percent of alkaloids, Pennsylvania's 0.05 percent of dry weight and DEA's proposed 1 milligram per gram or milliliter, or ratio of 100, measure different things, and none converts into another.
Text or heading? Ontario's "Prohibition" regulates. In Kansas, a March summary said HB 2365 added mitragynine, but the April summary of SB 430 says mitragynine "was inadvertently excluded from the enrolled version of HB 2365", so the leaf ban rests on SB 430.
Where GRH Kratom stands
This page is our dated check of where kratom is banned. Where an older post on this site differs from it, this page is the later check. To tell us a line is wrong, use our contact page.
Some older lines are now out of date. One of our posts still says "Ten states ban kratom outright as of August 2026, including North Dakota." North Dakota's House rejected a total ban on September 4, 2026. The same post leaves out Massachusetts and dates Kentucky's ban January 1, 2027, not July 1, 2027.
Our own state lists do not match this page either. Our product pages name Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island and Wisconsin; our shipping policy adds Massachusetts; our FAQ names Vermont, not Massachusetts, and calls kratom "illegal" in Rhode Island, which has licensed it since April 1, 2026. None of the three names Connecticut, Kansas, Tennessee or North Dakota, or Louisiana as a whole state.
We are pointing our two older ban posts to this page and correcting our other pages on kratom's legal status, so a reader who lands on one reaches the current rules.
Questions people ask about the kratom ban
Is kratom illegal in the United States?
Not federally, for the leaf: as of November 5, 2026, kratom and mitragynine are not controlled under the Controlled Substances Act, though FDA says kratom is not lawfully marketed as a drug, dietary supplement or food additive. MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16 were placed in Schedule I on August 26, 2026. Ten states ban kratom, by our count.
Will kratom be banned federally on November 13, 2026?
Not automatically. DEA's notices say an order "will be published in the Federal Register on or after November 13, 2026", the earliest date, not a set one; DEA's July notice on the minor alkaloid gave August 5, 2026 and no order followed. An order takes effect the day it is published. As proposed, it would control the concentrated minor alkaloid and MGPI above a threshold, not the leaf or mitragynine.
Which states ban kratom?
By our count of each state's own law on November 5, 2026: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts (a temporary emergency order), Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin. Kentucky's sales ban starts July 1, 2027, and North Dakota's governor's office said sales stay prohibited until rules exist. Published counts range from six to ten.
Does the End Gas Station Heroin Act ban kratom?
No, and it is not law: S. 5383 and H.R. 10272 were at committee referral on November 5, 2026. Their text would schedule the minor alkaloid and MGPI, exempting naturally occurring amounts within set limits. It does not schedule mitragynine, whatever some trackers say.
Disclaimer: this page summarizes public documents as of November 5, 2026 and links primary sources so you can check them. It is general information, not legal or medical advice, and it does not speak for any government agency; a question about a particular product, address or business belongs with a lawyer. Statements about botanical products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and no product is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
