Ohio Governor Seeks Ban on All Kratom Products
/By Pat Anson
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine wants his state to immediately ban the sale and use of all natural and synthetic kratom products by designating them as illegal Schedule One controlled substances, on the same level as heroin and LSD. DeWine is also seeking bans on “all existing and future synthetic kratom compounds.”
If approved by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, stores and other businesses in the state would be required to remove all kratom edibles, powders and drinks from their shelves and stop selling them online.
Kratom comes from the leaves of a tree that grows in southeast Asia and has been used for centuries as a natural stimulant and pain reliever. In recent years, millions of Americans have discovered that kratom can be used to treat pain, anxiety, depression and addiction.
The FDA, however, has not approved kratom for any medical condition. The agency recently warned that synthetic kratom products boosted with concentrated forms of the kratom alkaloid 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) could cause addiction and overdoses, and should be classified federally as Schedule One drugs by the DEA.
“These modified kratom products, sold online and in stores, are essentially legal, over-the-counter opiates that anyone – including kids – can buy with just a few bucks,” Gov. DeWine said in a press release.
“There is no accepted medical use for kratom in Ohio, and it is an imminent public health risk. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy should act with urgency to schedule all kratom compounds and future alterations of them as Schedule I illegal drugs.”
This isn’t the first time the Ohio Board of Pharmacy will consider banning kratom. In 2018, the board voted to classify kratom as a Schedule One drug after receiving a report from the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network blaming kratom for several deaths and falsely claiming that people were injecting kratom like it was heroin. The board later rescinded its decision after a public outcry.
Another public outcry is likely, judging by the early reaction to DeWine’s proposal on X/Twitter.
“This is not good! Do you want to help patients with uncontrolled pain get their pain medicine doctors back? Because they quit prescribing,” said one poster. “Some have now found relief with Kratom and you want to take this away?”
“Prohibition of both plain-leaf kratom and 7-OH extracts is a bad thing. In both cases, they will lead to people turning to more dangerous opioids,” said another. “Kratom, particularly the pure leaf powder, is incredibly safe, pretty much impossible to have a lethal overdose. Mike DeWine is putting hundreds of thousands of people in his state at risk.”
“Our system has already turned their back on people suffering from chronic pain, disregarding their quality of life. Now the government wants to have us suffer more. This is total bull,” wrote another poster.
Under existing Ohio state law, kratom can only be sold in its natural, dried leaf or powdered form to people 18 years of age and older. Selling adulterated kratom is also illegal.
Despite those safeguards, the Ohio Department of Health says kratom was found to be a cause of death in more than 200 overdose deaths in the state from 2019 to 2024.
Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an emergency rule classifying concentrated forms of 7-OH as a Schedule One controlled substance in Florida. Gov. DeWine’s proposal would go much further than that, by classifying all kratom products – including natural leaf kratom – as Schedule One drugs.
Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin have already classified kratom as a controlled substance. Dozens of cities, counties and local jurisdictions have also banned its sale.
While hundreds of deaths in the US have been linked to kratom use, most cases involve other drugs and illicit substances, making it difficult to determine the exact cause of death or any liability.
In a playbook reminiscent of the campaign against opioid pain medication, several law firms are seeking plaintiffs allegedly harmed by kratom to participate in class action lawsuits against kratom vendors and wholesalers.
A former CDC director recently said that natural leaf kratom caused “no serious adverse events“ to patients involved in an FDA study, but agreed that synthetic kratom should be scheduled as an illegal drug.
“Natural kratom leaf, when used as it has been for centuries, presents a markedly different risk profile than the synthetic products flooding American markets,” said Robert Redfield, MD. “Full spectrum kratom, used responsibly, appears to have acceptable safety margins based on FDA’s own clinical data.”
