Legislative Update: Kratom Advocates Push Back Against Proposed Bans in Multiple States
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: KRATOM ADVOCATES PUSH BACK AGAINST PROPOSED BANS IN MULTIPLE STATES
As legislatures across the country consider the kratom question, there are still a handful of states that have attempted to push for restrictions over regulation. Except this time, developments in federal policy and the science surrounding the plant have given advocates new tools to push back against prohibition.
That has led to a string of wins for kratom advocates who back science-based regulations to protect kratom consumers:
South Dakota Shoots Down Attempt to Rewrite Kratom Laws
Less than a year after South Dakota passed a law to regulate kratom, lawmakers came back with an attempt to criminalize the plant.
The only issue was that the data presented by Sen. John Carley was out-of-date and failed to incorporate the same authorities that made the case for sensible regulation. Carney's proposed law was focused on two pieces of 'evidence' that had already been shown to be faulty, and led to the bill stalling out in the state Senate.
First, Carney tried to use a fact sheet from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that was at the center of the federal attempt to schedule kratom nearly a decade ago. That effort was rescinded by the DEA, and new studies and the evolving science around kratom led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider its position on kratom and create a carve-out for natural leaf products.
Carney also cited statistics and data from South Dakota in an attempt to make the case against kratom. The only issue with his argument, as was pointed out by his colleagues, is that the data presented covered a period of time before the state passed its version of a Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA).
Rather than give in to the scare tactics that surrounded the attempt to criminalize kratom, Carney's attempt to rewrite laws in the state was rebuked when the Senate voted against advancing the bill.
Wyoming Opts for Regulation Over Prohibition
Lawmakers in Wyoming rebuked a similar attempt to criminalize kratom in the state next door.
Sen. Pepper Ottman introduced HB0185, an attempt to create the "Kratom Product Prohibition Act" and make all forms of the plant illegal in the state. That proposed law also cited the DEA's position on kratom as a reason to take action, and pointed out that the FDA had made a move to attempt to schedule 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a lesser alkaloid that was found in trace amounts in natural kratom leaves.
Rather than follow the FDA's lead to target 7-OH specifically, Ottman opted for a law that would ban natural leaf kratom products alongside those with artificially elevated levels of 7-OH.
Wyoming's attempt to criminalize kratom also included a piece of reasoning that cited a "recently documented" Salmonella outbreak linked to kratom products. The proposed law omits the fact that the outbreak in question began in 2017 and continued into 2018. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) closed its investigation into that outbreak without identifying a "single, common source of contaminated kratom."
Since that outbreak, industry advocates have implemented laws in multiple states to address concerns over contaminated products and created programs to educate kratom producers on proper manufacturing standards to avoid issues in manufacturing.
That faulty reasoning could explain the decision from lawmakers in Wyoming to shut down the conversation on limiting kratom. Ottman's bill did not receive the required votes to be introduced for debate in the state House of Representatives, effectively killing the proposed law before it could be considered.
Instead, lawmakers in the state passed their own version of a KCPA to create a regulatory structure for kratom products.
Utah Removes Natural Leaf Kratom From Proposed Restrictions
Although Utah is still considering tightening kratom restrictions in the state, lawmakers are listening to the FDA and have removed natural leaf kratom products from those proposed changes.
Utah was the first state to pass a KCPA, but that wasn't enough to stop some in the state legislature from introducing a measure that would have made all forms of kratom Schedule I substances in the state. Rather than proceed with the law as introduced, that proposed ban was rewritten to instead target 7-OH products in addition to tightening other restrictions, such as raising the age limit from 18 to 21.
The state is still working on finalizing the proposed changes to state law.
California Hearing Signals Hope in Back-and-Forth Over Kratom
One state that hasn't passed any form of kratom regulations is California. That doesn't mean that kratom consumers have access to the plant.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) targeted kratom in 2025 and began a campaign of product seizures and advocacy against the plant, using a state law that does not specifically mention kratom or any of its alkaloids. That effort led to millions of dollars of kratom products being taken by authorities in a series of actions that were widely condemned by advocates as an attempt to force legislators into allocating money toward creating a robust regulatory structure.
As the 2026 legislative session begins in the state, and lawmakers size up potential laws surrounding kratom, the Senate Standing Committee on Health held a hearing to gather information on the plant. Although the hearing did not consider any specific piece of legislation, the expert testimony cleared up the current state of kratom research.
Dr. Igor Koturbash, the director for the Center for Dietary Supplements Research at the University of Arkansas, testified before the committee and echoed the FDA's updated policy on kratom.
"When 7-OH levels rise, the product moves away from what many consumers think of as a traditional plant product," Koturbash said. "The key point is that (natural leaf) product and high-concentration 7-OH tablets do not have the same exposure, or the same risk, and should not be treated as the same category."
Advocates are hoping that the testimony in favor of natural leaf products can help pass reasonable regulations in the state. Currently, there is a law working its way through the California legislature to set age requirements on kratom products and limit the amount of 7-OH in products that can be sold as kratom.
That law will be heard by the same committee later this year. Koturbash told the committee that a move to limit access to kratom would encourage customers to seek out products on the black market and put them at risk. Furthermore, Koturbash made it clear that pursuing any type of scheduling would hurt responsible kratom consumers by limiting available research on the plant.
"I have worked with Schedule I substances before, and I know how painful it is to obtain all the licenses and certificates when you have to go through all this bureaucracy," Koturbash said. "I'm afraid that such a move will disincentivize the research that is so much needed."
