A state representative in Michigan wants to pass a bill by the end of the year that would ban kratom.
HB5537 updates Michigan’s penal code by stating,”A person shall not grow, synthesize, sell, offer to sell, give, import, or distribute kratom or a synthetic variant of kratom.” Violations are considered a misdemeanor punishable by fines and imprisonment. An exception has been made should the FDA classify kratom, stating that the law would not “apply to kratom that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a drug product, a dietary supplement, or a food additive in conventional food.”
Michiganders’ right to possess kratom is not threatened by this bill, however, as stated above, giving kratom away would be against the law.
The bill had been introduced in February 2026 and passed the House in March with a vote of 56 Yeas to 48 Nays. It now sits in Michigan’s Senate Committee on Government Operations.
Jay DeBoyer (R) of Michigan’s 63rd district, a sponsor of the bill, told Fox17, “It’s not a blue or red issue. I would love to believe that if it were passed out of the Senate, that Governor Whitmer would sign it, and and then we can start to get our arms around what is this product is, and try to differentiate between what is safe and what is not safe,” Rep. DeBoyer said. “But right now, we don’t have any of those things,” he claimed.
The mostly partisan bill is sponsored by 29 Republicans and only one Democrat. The March 18 House vote saw all but one Republican voting Yea, and all Democrats voting Nay. Oddly enough, the one Democrat listed as sponsoring the bill, Mike McFall, also voted Nay. Democrats currently hold a majority in the Michigan Senate. The outgoing governor, Gretchen Whitmer, is a Democrat, who may be unlikely to sign a bill not supported by her party. This is likely the reason Rep. DeBoyer is framing the bill as a “bipartisan” public safety issue.
Detroit City Council considered a resolution to support HB5537, but after opposition from constituents, decided to send it back to its Public Health and Safety Standing Committee rather than approve it.
A kratom regulation bill introduced in 2025 also did not yet pass. HB4969 would have regulated kratom through licensing, testing, labeling, age restrictions and restrictions on certain products. It would have created the Kratom Consumer Protection and Regulatory Act. The bill was reported from the Regulatory Reform Committee with a substitute in November 2025, but it did not become law and remained pending in committee as of June 2026.
Another kratom regulation bill was introduced in September 2026 by Senator John Cherry, SB1181. This would require age restrictions, product labeling, alkaloid disclosures, independent laboratory testing, and manufacturing standards. It would also prohibit products containing more than 2% 7-OH in their alkaloid composition and products containing synthetically produced kratom alkaloids or derivatives. The bill was referred to the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee.
Michigan’s legislative session ends on December 31. All bills not passed will die.