Kratom Will Be Banned In Kansas and Tennessee Starting July 1

Kratom Will Be Banned In Kansas and Tennessee Starting July 1 Leave a Comment / Current Events , General , News / By kratomjournalist Beginning July 1, laws designating kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance will take effect in both Kansas and Tennessee. In March, Kansas legislators added a last-minute kratom ban into a bill having nothing to do with kratom ( HB2365 originally entitled “Establishing the south central regional mental health hospital”). The bill passed both the Kansas House and Senate on Friday, March 27, then was amended to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine only. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed the bill on April 27. A separate bill, SB430 started as “AN ACT concerning health and health professions; relating to physical therapists; allowing licensed physical therapists to perform certain capillary blood tests” devolved into “AN ACT concerning crimes, punishment and criminal procedure; reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes; adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act”. Gov. Kelly signed this bill on April 27, making all kratom illegal and criminalizing Kansan kratom consumers. After July 1, anyone caught in the possession of any amount of kratom in Kansas will be charged with a felony. A similar law in Tennessee classifying kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance will also take effect on July 1. Titled “Matthew Davenport’s Law”, HB1649 is named for a man who died in 2024 in what his mother initially described as a “lethal interaction” between unspecified kratom products and unspecified prescription drugs. It was later found that Davenport had 3000 ng/ml of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) in his system, enough to cause a fatal overdose on its own. The amount of mitragynine found was high but not considered lethal. No comparable campaign to sue the manufacturers or vendors of Benadryl, or to criminalize Benadryl consumers, has occurred in Tennessee or nationally. Governor Bill Lee signed the bill into law on May 7. A person with no prior convictions caught with kratom in Tennessee will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500. Possession of kratom purchased legally prior to July 1, or from states where it remains legal, will still be against the law in Kansas and Tennessee. Johnson County, KS Sheriff Byron Roberson announced in a news release, “If you have kratom or 7-OH, now is the time to get rid of it. Dispose of these products on or before June 30, no questions asked. Starting July 1, possession of these substances is illegal under K.S.A. 65-4105.” Treatment centers have issued statements about the upcoming bans. “If you currently use kratom, now is the time to plan for a safe transition and get the support you may need,” said the Drug Abuse Council of Central Kansas Area. “Stopping suddenly can be miserable, and in some cases medically risky,” said the Freeman Recovery Center in Tennessee. Police spokespersons and representatives from the rehabilitation industry have been widely interviewed by