Is Kratom Legal in Ohio?

What law covers kratom in Ohio?

A Board of Pharmacy rule, not a statute. It’s rule 4729:9-1-01.1 of the Ohio Administrative Code, and it took effect May 19, 2026. Read the full text on Ohio’s official code site.

The rule lists “mitragynine-related compounds” as Schedule I controlled substances. It names four: 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, dihydro-7-hydroxy mitragynine and 7-acetoxymitragynine. It covers them whether they’re made in a lab or taken from the plant, including from the plant’s resin and extracts. That reach is what takes in kratom extracts.

Then the rule carves out natural leaf: mitragynine in vegetation form, including natural kratom leaf and ground natural kratom leaf, is not covered. Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, often shortened to 7-OH, are the leaf’s two main alkaloids. The Board’s notice to stores says natural leaf that holds trace amounts of 7-OH can be sold.

The Board wrote the rule under section 3719.44 of the Ohio Revised Code, which lets it add a substance to Schedule I. No law passed by the General Assembly names kratom, and none sets a buying age for it.

Which kratom products are illegal in Ohio?

Three kinds, according to the Board’s consumer and retailer notice, last revised October 5, 2026:

• kratom extracts and tinctures, since May 19, 2026
• lab-made kratom compounds, including 7-OH, since December 12, 2025, under an emergency rule, and under the permanent rule since May 19, 2026
• blended products, meaning kratom mixed with other ingredients such as water, kava or caffeine, since August 4, 2026

The notice lists one form as legal: natural leaf, whole or dried and crushed into powder. It tells stores and buyers to dispose of the rest.

The blended-products line came out of a court case, covered below. The rule doesn’t name capsules. In a June 2026 letter to the legislature’s rule review committee, the Board said ground leaf sold in capsules isn’t affected by the rule. No court has ruled on capsules either way.

What does Ohio require of a kratom seller?

Compliance with Ohio’s food and drug law, which the state’s food regulator reads narrowly.

The rule exempts natural leaf “in accordance with” Chapter 3715 of the Revised Code, Ohio’s Pure Food and Drug Act. The Board’s notice tells everyone who makes, markets or sells kratom to follow that chapter, whether or not a product is a controlled substance.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture enforces that chapter. Its kratom fact sheet, dated February 2026, says kratom isn’t an approved food ingredient, drug or dietary supplement. In the department’s reading, natural kratom may be sold only as whole leaf, dried leaf or powder. The fact sheet says it may not be:

• put in capsules
• labeled or advertised in a way that directs buyers to make it into a food
• labeled with directions for taking it, or with a nutrition or supplement facts panel

The department applies the state’s adulteration laws in plants and warehouses. Local health departments apply food rules in stores. The fact sheet is guidance, not a statute or a rule.

A court judgment from June 10, 2026 drew a line between the two laws. Four Ohio kratom retailers had sued the department and the Board. With both sides agreeing, the court declared that the Board’s rule doesn’t make natural leaf a controlled substance, whether or not a product follows the food law. The retailers, in turn, agreed that it isn’t lawful to sell products in Ohio that break it.

How did Ohio get its kratom rule?

Through the Board of Pharmacy, on its second try.

The Board first took up kratom in 2018. Its minutes from October 2, 2018 show a draft rule placing mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine in Schedule I. At its March 2019 meeting, the Board voted 7 to 0 to propose it. At its September 2019 meeting, it voted 6 to 0 to pull the rule back from the legislature’s rule review committee and set it aside. The minutes don’t show another vote on it until October 2024, when the Board voted to rescind a rule listed as 4729:9-1-01.1, Kratom. The 2026 rule reuses that number.

The second try began with the governor. On August 25, 2025, Governor Mike DeWine asked the Board to list both natural and synthetic kratom compounds in Schedule I. On December 11, 2025, he asked again in two parts: an emergency rule for the lab-made compounds, and the regular rulemaking process for natural kratom.

The Board voted 8 to 0 the next day, December 12, to request the emergency rule. The governor approved it the same day in Executive Order 2025-08D. The order says nothing in it applies to natural kratom in vegetation form. The Board’s own analysis says products holding concentrated 7-OH and related compounds were legally sold in Ohio until that day.

We have never sold 7-OH products and we do not defend them.

On January 6, 2026, the Board voted 8 to 0 to start two permanent rules. One, 4729:9-1-01.1, covers the lab-made compounds. It took effect May 19, 2026. The other, 4729:9-1-01.2, would add mitragynine itself to Schedule I. The section on what could change covers it.

How has Ohio’s kratom rule held up in court?

It has held so far, in two Franklin County cases.

The first was about the Board’s guidance. On May 14, 2026, the Board issued a notice to stores. Kratom sellers read it as classing leaf products that broke the food law as Schedule I drugs. Four Ohio retailers sued. The Board revised its notice on May 28, and the court entered the June 10 judgment described above. The Board later told legislators it had taken no enforcement action under the earlier notice.

The second case went further. Botanic Tonics, which makes a kratom and kava drink, and Krazy Daze, a store that sells it, sued the Board on May 21, 2026. A temporary restraining order on May 28 barred the Board from classing drinks made from leaf as Schedule I substances.

On August 4, 2026, Judge Mark Serrott denied the companies an injunction and set that order aside. He found the rule’s wording plain. Leaf mixed with something else, he wrote, is no longer leaf in vegetation form. On August 21, with both sides’ agreement, he entered final judgment that the rule was properly adopted and is constitutional. The companies filed an appeal on August 24, 2026. Both cases are public on the Franklin County Clerk of Courts site, under case numbers 26CV004720 and 26CV004790.

Which Ohio kratom bills failed?

Three have died, and two were in committee on the date at the top. All five would have regulated kratom, not banned it.

• House Bill 318, filed August 13, 2019. It had two hearings in the House Health Committee and no vote.
• House Bill 236, filed March 25, 2021. It passed the House 83 to 10 on February 9, 2022. It had one hearing in the Senate Health Committee, on March 23, 2022, and no vote there.
• Senate Bill 103, filed April 5, 2023. It had three hearings in the Senate Health Committee and no vote.

House Bill 236 went furthest. It would have had the Department of Agriculture license anyone who processes kratom. It would have banned synthetic alkaloids, capped 7-OH at 2 percent of a product’s alkaloids, and required labels with a serving size. It would also have barred the Board from listing kratom as a controlled substance. The legislative record doesn’t say why any of the three stopped.

Two bills from the 2025 to 2026 session sat in committee. Senator Blessing filed Senate Bill 299 on October 21, 2025. Representatives Odioso and Lorenz filed House Bill 587 on November 12, 2025. Their texts are nearly identical. Each would:

• require sellers to register each kratom product with the Department of Agriculture
• bar sales to anyone under 18
• bar products holding a controlled substance, or lab-altered alkaloids where mitragynine isn’t the main one
• bar products whose natural 7-OH tops both 2 percent of the alkaloids and 1 milligram per serving
• require labels listing the mitragynine and 7-OH in each product

Senate Bill 299 had hearings on November 18, 2025 and March 24, 2026. House Bill 587 had three hearings in the House Agriculture Committee, the last on March 18, 2026. Neither had a vote.

Could Ohio kratom law change?

Yes, from three directions, and federal action sits above all of them.

The Board’s second rule is the first, and the biggest. Rule 4729:9-1-01.2 would add mitragynine, the leaf’s main alkaloid, to Schedule I. The Board called it the step that would ban the remaining natural products. It drew more than 1,600 comments. In June 2026, the Board told legislators the General Assembly strongly prefers to handle natural kratom through a bill. On July 8, 2026, the Board voted 6 to 0 to have its staff bring back next steps. At its September 14, 2026 meeting, staff reported no new updates.

The legislature is the second. Senate Bill 299 and House Bill 587 sat in committee. Under Ohio’s constitution, the next General Assembly convenes on January 4, 2027, and new bills can be filed then.

The appeal of the August ruling is the third. A higher court could read the rule differently.

On the federal side, on October 14, 2026, the DEA published a federal proposal on 7-OH. It’s a proposal, not a rule, and this page doesn’t state federal law. Our page on whether kratom is legal federally tracks it, and the Kratom Legality hub carries every state.

If an Ohio rule or bill moves, the Board’s and the legislature’s own sites show it first. Not a store’s website. Ours included.

Can you order kratom online in Ohio?

Yes, for natural leaf powder. Ohio’s rule governs what can be sold or possessed in the state, wherever it was bought.

We’re based in Arlington, Texas, and Ohio is the fourth-largest state for our orders. We verify age at checkout, and our checkout won’t send a kratom extract to an Ohio address. Every lab report we publish for our Whole Earth line measures 7-OH, and you can read them on our lab tests page. We carry kratom powder from Whole Earth and other brands.

Is kratom legal in the states around Ohio?

In four of the five. Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia allow kratom at the state level. Kentucky does too, until a sales ban takes effect July 1, 2027. Indiana bans it.

That makes the drive west the one that catches people out. Kratom bought legally in Ohio becomes possession in Indiana the moment you cross the state line. The law reaches you where you are, not where you bought it. Traveling with kratom covers what that means on a drive and in an airport.

Can a city or county in Ohio ban kratom?

We haven’t found an Ohio city or county ban that we could confirm in the government’s own records. Our shipping page keeps the full list of places we don’t ship.

This page covers state law. Cities and counties can add rules of their own, and those rules differ and change.

There’s no reliable way to track every local rule in the country, and we are not going to pretend there is. Check your own city and county before you buy, carry or travel.