American Kratom Association Praises North Dakota for Rejecting Total Kratom Ban

Why it matters

The industry's leading advocacy group is framing North Dakota's regulatory approach as a national model, signaling how it plans to respond to bans and restrictions being considered in other states and by federal regulators.

The big picture

The American Kratom Association has spent 2026 fighting both a wave of state bans and DEA scheduling actions against synthetic kratom derivatives, arguing that natural kratom leaf should be regulated rather than prohibited. North Dakota's outcome, a narrow miss for a full ban paired with passage of a regulatory bill, gives the group a case study to cite elsewhere.

Key findings

• The North Dakota House rejected Senate Bill 2408, which would have banned all forms of kratom, by a 46-47 vote.
• House Bill 1628, banning synthetic derivatives while regulating natural kratom for adults 21 and older, passed the House 91-2 on final passage.
• The AKA credits the law with distinguishing chemically manipulated synthetic products from traditional botanical kratom leaf.
• The organization says kratom sales remain prohibited in North Dakota until administrative rules implementing the new law are finalized.
• AKA says it will continue working with state officials on enforcement, testing standards and preventing products from being marketed to children.

What they say

"North Dakota lawmakers listened carefully to the concerns of consumers, public-health officials, and other stakeholders and chose a responsible path that targets the products creating the greatest risk," said Mac Haddow, the AKA's senior fellow on public policy.

Bottom line

**The kratom industry's main advocacy group is holding up North Dakota's synthetic-ban-plus-regulation approach as the template it wants other states to follow instead of outright prohibition.**