IOWA — Multiple U.S. states, including Iowa, Idaho, and New York, advanced legislation in 2025 and 2026 to restrict or ban kratom. Kratom is an herb native to Southeast Asia that produces opioid-like effects and lacks federal regulation, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved it.

A University of Virginia study reported 538 kratom-linked hospitalizations in the U.S. in 2025, an increase from 43 hospitalizations linked solely to kratom in 2015. The study authors stated that the 2025 increase coincided with the emergence of synthetic kratom versions, including 7-OH. Dr. Andrew Kolodny, director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University, said, "It is increasing the prevalence of opioid use disorder. Being able to buy an opioid at a convenience store is going to make the opioid crisis worse."

In Idaho, the Office of Drug Policy reported kratom as a contributing factor in 47 resident deaths between 2021 and 2023. Toxicology reports for those deaths also detected other substances, primarily opioids. The Bonneville County, Idaho coroner reported four local deaths in the 18 months prior to October 2025 were caused solely by acute mitragynine toxicity, the primary active compound in kratom.

Idaho lawmakers considered legislation to ban kratom and separate legislation to ban 7-OH while restricting natural kratom sales to adults 21 and older, but both pieces of legislation failed. However, the Idaho Falls city council approved a ban on kratom sales that takes effect on July 1. Council member John Radford, who voted for the ban, said, "They said it was harder for them to come off of kratom than it was some of their other drugs."

Mac Haddow, a senior fellow on public policy for the American Kratom Association, claimed there is no evidence that kratom alone causes death and stated the problem is 7-OH, which is more potent than kratom powder. The American Kratom Association supported U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Robert Kennedy's July 2025 call for the Drug Enforcement Agency to ban 7-OH, but the agency has not implemented a prohibition.

In New York, Assembly member Phil Steck co-sponsored legislation that bans 7-OH but exempts natural kratom products. He also sponsored legislation approved last year requiring warning labels on natural kratom products. Steck said, "I would not go out and say that you can use the so-called natural product to an unlimited extent, but the two products are substantially different." New York also passed legislation requiring individuals to be at least 21 years old to purchase kratom.

The Iowa statehouse approved legislation in March to criminalize kratom possession. Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin have banned kratom, with a Tennessee ban on sales taking effect on July 1.