25 States Push Kratom Bans After 2 Ole Miss Deaths
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 6
25 States Push Kratom Bans After 2 Ole Miss Deaths
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 6
Summary
Twenty-five states introduced kratom ban bills in 2025 and 2026, marking a sharper crackdown after two University of Mississippi students died in September in cases potentially linked to synthetic kratom.
Poison-control reports tied to kratom more than doubled from 2024 to 2025, adding to evidence of harm as the opioid-like drug remains widely sold at gas stations, convenience stores and online.
More than 400 kratom-related bills have been introduced since 2015, but most sought regulation rather than outright bans—108 were bans versus 258 imposing age limits, licensing, potency caps or synthetic-only restrictions.
Fewer than 1 in 5 of those bills passed, and kratom remains legal federally and in most states, even as the DEA lists it among its drugs of concern.