In a ruling the American Kratom Association (AKA) called “brutal”, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy mandated that while natural dried leaf kratom will remain legal, the same kratom sold in capsules will be classified as Schedule I substances, along with kratom in liquid form. Major liquid extract brands that have been marketed in gas stations alongside caffeine shots will be outlawed, as well as kratom drinks. Some brands of these forms of kratom are major contributors to pro-kratom groups like Global Kratom Coalition (GKC) and AKA.
“This action goes far beyond targeting dangerous synthetic products,” said the AKA in a statement. “Under the Board’s notice, many common kratom products — including capsules, drinks, and other processed formats — are treated as illegal, even when they involve natural kratom.”
Consumers use plain leaf kratom in capsule form to both bypass the bitter taste of the leaf but also to carefully measure dosage. What’s more, the Ohio ruling explicitly forbids companies to suggest a dosage on the product package: “packaging, labeling, and advertising cannot have any instructions, dosages, nutritional fact panel or other representations that this is edible or can be ingested as a food, drink, or supplement”.
Legal questions arise from this ruling. It may be unprecedented for the container itself (the capsule) to determine whether a substance is legal or illegal. If a consumer purchases kratom in a bag and then puts the kratom in a capsule, is the consumer then possessing a Schedule I substance? The answer from this ruling would seem to be “Yes.” If a consumer makes a tea out of their legally purchased kratom, is the tea a Schedule I substance, since kratom in “liquid or drink form” is outlawed? Again, the answer going by the Ohio BOP ruling would seem to be “Yes.”
In other states, kratom companies are required to put dosage and instructions on their packaging as a safety measure to help protect consumers against adverse events like nausea from taking too high of a dose. Kratom advocates have long been advocating for safety regulations that have been rolled back in Ohio due to these regressive new rules to a time when kratom vendors labeled products as “Not for human consumption”.
In a 7-page document, the Ohio BOP released a table including categories of kratom “NOT BANNED” and “BANNED”.
Under NOT BANNED, the BOP listed:
- “Natural kratom (mitragyna speciosa or mitragynine) in its vegetation form (e.g., dried leaf or powdered). Because the FDA does not recognize kratom as a “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) ingredient, the packaging, labeling, and advertising cannot have any instructions, dosages, nutritional fact panel or other representations that this is edible or can be ingested as a food, drink, or supplement.”
Under BANNED, the BOP listed:
- “Natural kratom (mitragyna speciosa or mitragynine) in its vegetation form (e.g., dried leaf or powdered) in capsule form.”
- “Natural kratom (mitragyna speciosa or mitragynine) in its vegetation form (e.g., dried leaf or powdered) in liquid or drink form.”
- “Kratom-related (i.e., mitragynine-related) compounds including, but not limited, to:
- 7-hydroxymitragynine (sometimes referred to as 7-OH);
- Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl;
- Dihydro-7-hydroxy mitragynine; and
- 7-acetoxymitragynine.”
The new rule goes into effect Tuesday, May 19, 2026.