Kratom Legalization Bill Introduced in Arkansas

A bipartisan bill has been filed in Arkansas that will legalize kratom if passed.

Co-sponsored by Sen. Greg Leding [D] and Rep. Jon Eubanks [R], Senate Bill 534 was introduced into the Arkansas Senate on March 20, 2025. If passed, the bill will take mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragine off of the Arkansas list of controlled substances, and would introduce regulations on kratom in the form of a Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA).

The family of a man killed in an Arkansas jail after being sentenced to 10 years for possession of just 200 grams of plain leaf kratom is celebrating the bill.

"The KCPA is very important to my family, my community, and holds real, trauma-based sentimental value," said Julian Price in a message to Senator Leding. She is the daughter of Marshall Price, the man who was killed.

"Kratom was an excellent harm reduction tool for my dad and it gave him freedom from his terrible opioid use disorder," Ms. Price continued. "Tragically, he died while incarcerated for possessing the very thing that helped him!"

In 2015, Arkansas classified kratom and its active compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as Schedule I drugs, labeling them as highly addictive substances with no accepted medical use. These compounds were categorized as opium derivatives, alongside heroin, codeine, and morphine, despite kratom being a plant not derived from the opium poppy.

Following the ban, the Fourth Judicial Drug Task Force took action against businesses that continued selling kratom illegally. A handful of health incident occurring Arkansas, coupled with FDA recommendations, contributed to the state's decision to prohibit its sale and use.

In Arkansas, simply possessing 200 grams or more of kratom and other Schedule I substances can result in an automatic drug trafficking charge, whether the defendant intended to sell the substance or not. Since kratom has a long shelf life, most kratom consumers keep larger quantities on hand, like they would with bags of coffee.

A December 2023 Newsweek series examined Marshall Price's tragic case and bizarre cover-up in light of what they called "Arkansas' 'Punishing' Justice System". 

The problems in the state are mirrored across much of rural America, particularly the South, where legal systems operating on a tough-on-crime philosophy prosecute heavily for minor offenses, incarcerate people in local jails for long periods before they face trial, give the poor little chance of defending themselves and provide little protection for those in overcrowded and understaffed jails and prisons where inmates are forced to pay steep fines and fees for their own detention and probation. Exacerbating the hardship for the incarcerated, health care is nearly absent in many facilities.