State lawmakers are seeking ways to regulate kratom ahead of the 2027 legislative session, arguing that synthetic concoctions of the drug are too dangerous to leave unchecked for another year.

Use of both naturally and synthetically derived kratom products has surged in recent decades, spurring many states to adopt new regulations. As of April 2025, 18 states had laws regulating the manufacture and sale of kratom products and six states recognized compounds in kratom as controlled substances. 

Montana currently has no laws on the books relating to kratom or its active ingredients — a fact that many members of the Law and Justice Interim Committee lamented during a Jan. 14 meeting. 

“This whole kratom thing really bothers me. I mean, it really does,” said Sen. Vince Ricci, R-Billings. “It’s being sold in convenience stores. It’s in energy drink fashion. There’s no age restrictions, so 12-year-olds can buy it.” 

During the 2025 Legislature, lawmakers introduced a bill to restrict the sale of kratom products with high levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, a compound that binds to opioid receptors in the brain and either acts as a stimulant or a sedative depending on the dosage. The legislation would have restricted retailers from selling kratom products to anyone under the age of 21. The measure failed after being tabled by the House Appropriations Committee. 

The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council subsequently passed its own law in September banning the sale and possession of kratom on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Yellowstone County recently followed suit with its own prohibition on the sale of kratom products in licensed food establishments. 

Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, said she didn’t think local restrictions on kratom were enough while questioning the routes state legislators had to implement their own regulations. 

“A concern that I have is that our next legislative session is almost a year away,” said Vinton. “So, knowing that there has been some action ... is there anything else that can be done or that we’ve overlooked that can address this potentially harmful substance without waiting for another year?” 

Lawmakers did not walk away from the Jan. 14 meeting with a clear answer to that question.  

Instead, the legislators agreed to convene in March after researching how states like Ohio have regulated kratom outside of regular legislative sessions. In December, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy issued an emergency 180-day ban on synthetic kratom products. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].