On Februrary 24, officials in Pike County, Illinois voted unanimously to ban the sale of kratom and criminalize citizens in possession of it. “I commend the local community and our state’s attorney for bringing it forward, just trying to get ahead of the situation,” said Pike County Board Chairwoman Reta Hoskin.
This is the second Illinois county to pass a ban since December, when the Jackson County Board voted to ban kratom sales only in unincorporated areas of the county, leaving towns to decide whether or not to pass their own kratom laws. Some cities, like Murphysboro, have decided to ban kratom.
Since 2017, multiple Illinois towns have banned kratom sales and/or criminalized kratom consumers. The first bans happened during the “synthetic drug” panic (Spice, bath salts, etc.). Some towns classified kratom alongside synthetic drugs or novel psychoactives, even though kratom is a plant that has been consumed for at least several centuries. Once the few town passed bans, a regional copycat effect led other nearby towns to follow.
As in Mississippi, where multiple towns and counties have banned the plant, kratom remains legal at the state level in Illinois.
Here is a list of counties and towns in Illinois that have passed kratom prohibition:
Counties
- Pike County (2026)
- Jackson County – unincorporated areas (2026)
Cities and Towns
- Jerseyville (2017)
- Alton (2018)
- Glen Carbon (2019)
- Edwardsville (2020)
- Wood River (2023)
- Des Plaines (2024)
- Orland Park (2024)
- Marion (2025)
- Herrin (2025)
- Johnston City (2025)
- Eldorado (2025)
- Morton (2025)
- Pekin (2025)
- Murphysboro (2025)
- Godfrey (2025)
- Elk Grove Village (2025)
- Bloomington (2026)
- McLeansboro (2026)
- Cobden (2026)