Kratom legality by state falls into four buckets: six states and the District of Columbia ban it outright as a controlled substance, California prohibits its sale and manufacture statewide, roughly 22 states allow it under consumer protection laws that set age limits and product standards, and the remaining states permit it without specific regulation. A handful of cities and counties maintain local bans even where state law allows the product. There is no federal prohibition, so each state sets its own rule.1National Institute on Drug Abuse. Kratom
States Where Kratom Is Illegal
Six states and DC classify kratom’s primary alkaloids, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as controlled substances. Possession, sale, and distribution are criminal offenses, and penalties track whatever the state imposes for Schedule I violations generally. That often means felony exposure for simple possession.
- Alabama lists both alkaloids as Schedule I controlled substances.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 20-2-23 – Schedule I – Listing of Controlled Substances
- Arkansas places both alkaloids on its Schedule I list.
- Indiana treats mitragynine as a “synthetic drug,” which puts it in Schedule I.
- Vermont classifies the alkaloids as “regulated drugs,” so possessing, selling, or manufacturing them is unlawful.
- Wisconsin lists mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as Schedule I stimulants.3Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 961.14 – Schedule I
- The District of Columbia controls kratom’s psychoactive components by regulation.
Getting caught with kratom in these jurisdictions exposes you to the same charge structure as other Schedule I substances. Law enforcement does not distinguish between kratom powder and harder drugs when making an arrest.
Rhode Island Repealed Its Ban
Rhode Island used to belong on that list. The state repealed its kratom ban effective February 1, 2025, and replaced it with the Rhode Island Kratom Act, a licensing framework for manufacturers and retailers that takes effect April 1, 2026.4Justia. Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-2.08 – Repealed5Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Kratom Act – Licenses Required Older sources listing Rhode Island as a banned state are out of date.
California’s Statewide Sales Ban
California takes a different approach than the six banned states. Rather than scheduling kratom as a controlled substance, the California Department of Public Health declared that all foods, dietary supplements, and drugs containing kratom or 7-OH are illegal to sell or manufacture for consumption in the state.6California Department of Public Health. Foods, Dietary Supplements and Medical Drugs Containing Kratom The governor’s office reported 95 percent compliance with the prohibition as of March 2026.7Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom Announces 95 Percent Compliance with Prohibition of Illegal Kratom Products
Enforcement targets the supply chain. CDPH inspectors visit retailers and manufacturers to pull products from shelves, so the consequence for ordinary consumers is that no legal retail source exists in the state. Before this statewide action, only San Diego had a local ban in California; now the whole state is closed to kratom sales.8City of San Diego. San Diegos Synthetic and Psychoactive Drug Laws
Cities and Counties That Ban Kratom in Legal States
Local prohibitions can override the statewide answer. You can be perfectly legal in one town and violating an ordinance a few miles later. The notable examples:
- Denver, Colorado considers kratom illegal for human consumption inside city limits, even though Colorado has a statewide consumer protection framework.
- Jerseyville, Illinois bans kratom despite Illinois allowing it for adults 18 and older.
- Sarasota County, Florida banned kratom in 2014, treating it as a designer drug. Florida later passed a statewide Kratom Consumer Protection Act in 2023, and how the state law interacts with the local ban remains an open question for consumers there.
- Union County, Mississippi criminalized kratom despite Mississippi’s statewide regulatory framework.
Local bans do not always appear in statewide legal databases. If you’re traveling, checking with local law enforcement or the city clerk is the safer move than relying on a state-level answer.
States That Regulate Kratom Instead of Banning It
About 22 states have adopted some version of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA). These laws set product standards, require testing and labeling, and restrict who can buy. Utah passed the first KCPA in 2019, and the list has grown steadily.
KCPA states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island (effective April 2026), South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The specific rules vary, but most prohibit kratom products that contain controlled substances, synthetic alkaloids, or dangerous contaminants. Many cap 7-hydroxymitragynine at 2 percent of total alkaloid content; Mississippi uses a stricter 1 percent limit, and Georgia uses a milligram-based threshold of 0.5 mg per gram.9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 36-795.02 – Kratom Products, Adulteration, Contamination, Sales to Minors Prohibited Colorado, Georgia, and Nebraska also ban combustible or vape-ready kratom products. Georgia requires each package to list the milligram amounts of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine per serving and per package, include consumption directions, carry a physician-consultation warning, and state that the product is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.10Justia. Georgia Code 16-13-122 – Content of Kratom and Required Labeling Oregon requires processors to register with the Department of Revenue at a $460 annual fee and certify third-party testing.11Oregon Department of Revenue. Kratom Processor Registration
Minimum Age to Buy Kratom
Every KCPA state restricts sales to minors, but the cutoff is not uniform. Crossing from an age-18 state into an age-21 state catches people off guard.
Age 18 is the minimum in Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.12Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 36-795 – Definitions
Age 21 is the minimum in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Florida’s statute makes selling, delivering, or furnishing any kratom product to someone under 21 a second-degree misdemeanor.13Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 500.92 – Florida Kratom Consumer Protection Act West Virginia makes knowingly selling to someone under 21 a felony.
Retailers carry the enforcement burden. An underage sale can trigger fines, loss of a business license, and in some states criminal charges against the clerk who rang it up.
Concentrated 7-OH Products Are Being Treated Separately
Concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products, sold as shots, gummies, or enhanced extracts, contain far higher 7-OH levels than what naturally occurs in the leaf. Regulators are increasingly putting them in their own category.
Ohio’s Board of Pharmacy issued an emergency ban on concentrated 7-OH products and explicitly noted that “kratom that is sold in its natural vegetation state that contains trace amounts of 7-OH is not banned.”14Ohio Board of Pharmacy. Consumer and Retailer Notice – Kratom-Related Products Now Illegal in Ohio California’s statewide ban names 7-OH alongside kratom. The KCPA states that cap 7-OH at 2 percent of total alkaloid content are effectively targeting these concentrated items while leaving traditional powder and capsules alone. If a product’s legality is uncertain in your state, 7-OH content is usually the reason.
Carrying Kratom Across State Lines
This is where travelers get into the most avoidable trouble. A product bought legally in Texas becomes contraband the moment you cross into Arkansas. Interstate commerce does not shield you from state drug laws once you are physically inside that state. A trooper in Alabama who finds kratom during a traffic stop will treat your legal purchase in Georgia as irrelevant to the charge.
Routes matter. Driving from Georgia to Tennessee is fine on paper, but a detour through Alabama turns your legal product into Schedule I contraband. Consequences in banned states follow standard controlled substance statutes and can include arrest, vehicle impoundment, and felony charges.
Flying With Kratom
The TSA does not list kratom in its screening database and does not search bags for drugs. Officers focus on security threats.15Transportation Security Administration. What Can I Bring If a screener encounters a substance and suspects it is illegal, the standard move is to call local law enforcement, which means the law of the airport’s jurisdiction applies. Flying out of a legal state is usually uneventful; landing in a banned state with kratom in your bag exposes you to that state’s criminal law.
Buying Kratom Online
Online retailers ship to most of the country, and reputable vendors refuse orders to addresses in banned states. The legal risk falls on the buyer. A kratom shipment delivered in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Vermont, Wisconsin, or DC can be charged as possession of a controlled substance. California is a slightly different situation because the ban targets sellers rather than consumers, but no compliant vendor should be shipping there either.