Louisiana State Kratom Laws

Louisiana senate.

Kratom is currently legal in Louisiana, except for Ascension Parish and Rapides Parish. There have been several attempts to ban kratom statewide, but none of them have been successful.

In 2014, the authorities received the first bill regarding kratom. It suggested adding to the controlled drug list any material, mixture, or compound that contained kratom alkaloids. The alkaloids indicated were mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl. The bill eventually died in committee.

In 2015, the Louisiana Senate was presented with the same bill. This time it passed, but legislators amended it and took out kratom compounds from it.

In the begining of 2018, the kratom salmonella outbreak affected three people in the state of Louisiana. Fortunately, none of the people involved in the outbreak died. Still, kratom critics used the incident to their advantage.

In May 2018, came another bill. It pushed the Louisiana Department of Health to study kratom and decide if it should be included in the Controlled Substances Act.

This bill passed, and so did a second bill to study kratom. It came into effect in May 2019. The leading arguments used were that kratom is an unregulated product and that it is easily available in gas stations and similar locations.

On February 28, 2020, a bill intending to regulate the Southeast Asian herb kratom in Louisiana was put in place. This law is known as the Louisiana Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA).

The KCPA is one of the initiatives of the American Kratom Association (AKA), a non-profit activist organization. It wants to help the kratom community by making certain that kratom remains legal and the access to it safe. Kratom is helping Americans to better their quality of life, and the AKA wants to keep it this way.

The new law would have made regulations of the manufacturing, sales, distribution, and labeling of kratom products mandatory.

Unfortunately, the bill died in committee despite the benefits it would have provided to kratom customers.

Kratom remains legal in Louisiana but unregulated.

In 2022, two Louisiana parishes proceeded with a kratom ban. Ascension Parish outlawed kratom sales in August 2022. The starting proposal included the possession of kratom, as well. However, the local government chose to only focus on sales. As a result, you can still possess kratom in Ascenson Parish, but you can neither buy or sell it.

In October 2022, Rapides Parish followed suit. While Ascension Parish only focused on kratom sales, the Rapides Parish Police Jury voted to ban both kratom possession and sales.

At the moment, kratom is legal in the rest of Louisiana state.

Advocates are actively working so that kratom remains legal.

If you would like to help protect kratom please look into the American Kratom Association. The AKA has organized the American Kratom Protectors. They are a national grassroots organization that will help lead the advocacy efforts as we fight state bans, share correct information about kratom, and push passage of state and federal Kratom Consumer Protection Acts.

Join today by clicking the link below:

American Kratom Association