Is Kratom Legal in Colorado? (2026 Law)

Kratom is not listed in Colorado's controlled substance schedules, but its sale is regulated. The state's drug schedules in C.R.S. 18-18-203 to 18-18-207 do not list kratom, mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH); instead, the Daniel Bregger Act (SB 25-072, C.R.S. 6-1-740, effective May 29, 2025) makes it a deceptive trade practice to sell kratom to anyone under 21 or to sell products above a two percent 7-OH limit, and C.R.S. 18-13-132 makes furnishing kratom to a person under 21 a $200 civil infraction. For other states, see our guide to kratom laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-11. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Colorado state law on kratom: the Daniel Bregger Act (C.R.S. 6-1-740) and the Consumer Protection Act penalty section (C.R.S. 6-1-112), the furnishing-to-minors statute (C.R.S. 18-13-132), the earlier kratom section in C.R.S. 44-1-105, the controlled substance schedules and their amendment rule (C.R.S. 18-18-201 to 18-18-207), and one line of the impaired-driving statute, with one paragraph on federal law. It does not cover Colorado agency rules, city or county ordinances, tribal law, employer or school policies, military rules or other states' laws.

Is kratom legal in Colorado?

Kratom is not listed by name in Colorado's schedules. The state's controlled substances are listed in statute, in C.R.S. 18-18-203 through 18-18-207, and none of those schedules names kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH. Schedules I and II also cover a "controlled substance analog" (C.R.S. 18-18-102(6), 18-18-203(2)(g), 18-18-204(2)(g)): a substance intended for human consumption whose chemical structure is substantially similar to a listed Schedule I or II substance or that was specifically designed to produce a substantially similar or greater effect. No Colorado court has decided whether a concentrated or semi-synthetic 7-OH product could be treated as an analog. The only Title 18 provision that names kratom is C.R.S. 18-13-132, the age 21 furnishing rule.

The legislature adds substances to the schedules by bill; the one automatic rule, added by SB 26-031 in C.R.S. 18-18-203(3), applies only to FDA-approved prescription drug products. C.R.S. 18-18-201 provides that "the general assembly, by bill, may add substances to or delete or reschedule substances listed in section 18-18-203, 18-18-204, 18-18-205, 18-18-206, or 18-18-207."

Colorado treats kratom as a consumer product whose sale is regulated. The rules fall on people who prepare, distribute, advertise or sell kratom products. None of Colorado's three kratom sections (C.R.S. 6-1-740, 18-13-132 and 44-1-105) makes it an offense for a buyer to possess kratom, and none of them creates a state registration or license for kratom sellers.

What counts as a kratom product in Colorado

Colorado's code defines "kratom product" three times, and each definition governs only its own section.

• C.R.S. 6-1-740(1)(f) (Daniel Bregger Act): "a food or dietary supplement that consists of, or contains, any part of a kratom leaf, a kratom leaf extract, or any kratom alkaloid, kratom constituent, or kratom metabolite and does not include any synthesized alkaloids or semi-synthesized alkaloids."
• C.R.S. 18-13-132(3) (age rule): any product or ingredient containing "(a) Any part of the leaf of the Mitragyna speciosa plant if the plant contains the alkaloid mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine; or (b) A synthetic material that contains the alkaloid mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine."
• C.R.S. 44-1-105(1): the earlier regulation section carries its own definition, which, like the age rule, reaches synthetic material containing mitragynine or 7-OH.

The difference matters. The 2025 act excludes synthesized alkaloids from "kratom product" and then bans them separately (see the table below), while the age 21 rule in 18-13-132 applies to synthetic material containing mitragynine or 7-OH as well as to leaf products.

The 2025 act also defines "adulterated" in C.R.S. 6-1-740(1)(a) as "the addition of fentanyl or any other controlled substance, a synthesized alkaloid or semi-synthesized alkaloid, or another substance prohibited by law."

Kratom age limit in Colorado

The minimum age is 21. C.R.S. 18-13-132(1) provides:

"(a) A person shall not give, sell, distribute, dispense, or offer for sale a kratom product to any person who is under twenty-one years of age. (b) Before giving, selling, distributing, dispensing, or offering to sell to an individual any kratom product, a person shall request from the individual and examine a government-issued photographic identification that establishes that the individual is twenty-one years of age or older."

A violation of either paragraph is a civil infraction. Under C.R.S. 18-13-132(1)(c), the person "commits a civil infraction and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of two hundred dollars." Subsection (1)(d) gives an affirmative defense to a charge under (1)(a) when the seller was presented with, and reasonably relied on, a government-issued photo ID showing the buyer was 21 or older. The 2022 act that created this section (SB 22-120) took effect August 10, 2022; SB 25-072 amended its definition effective May 29, 2025.

The same age rule appears twice more. Selling to a person under 21 is a deceptive trade practice under C.R.S. 6-1-740(2)(a)(II), and C.R.S. 44-1-105(3)(c) separately bars knowingly selling to a person under 21.

Which kratom products are banned in Colorado?

C.R.S. 6-1-740(2)(a) bars any person from knowingly preparing, distributing, advertising, selling or offering to sell five kinds of kratom product, subsection (2)(d) bars manufacturing, packaging, labeling or distributing two kinds, and subsection (2)(c) bars one retail display practice:

The 7-OH rule limits a compound's share of the alkaloids; it does not ban kratom leaf. Subsection (2)(a)(III) bars a product:

"That contains a level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction that is greater than two percent of the alkaloid composition of the kratom product."

The synthetic rule has no percentage allowance. Under subsection (2)(d)(I), a person may not manufacture, package, label or distribute a kratom product that "Contains synthesized alkaloids or semi-synthesized alkaloids."

Kratom labeling rules in Colorado

Each retail package needs a label. C.R.S. 6-1-740(2)(b) bars selling or offering a kratom product unless its label "clearly and conspicuously sets forth on each retail package":

• the name and address of the place of business of the manufacturer or distributor;
• the full list of ingredients; and
• disclosure and advice against use by individuals who are under 21, pregnant or breastfeeding, advice to consult a health-care professional before use, and statements that kratom may be habit-forming and may interact with certain medications, drugs and controlled substances.

The subsection lists further required label content as well. The older C.R.S. 44-1-105(3)(b) separately requires a label showing the identity and address of the manufacturer and the full list of ingredients.

The earlier kratom section, C.R.S. 44-1-105

SB 25-072 did not repeal Colorado's first kratom statute. C.R.S. 44-1-105, added by SB 22-120, remains in the 2026 edition of the Colorado Revised Statutes, and its duty list has applied since July 1, 2024. Subsection (3) provides that a person shall not:

"(a) Knowingly prepare, distribute, advertise, sell, or offer to sell a kratom product that is adulterated with fentanyl or any other controlled substance listed in part 2 of article 18 of title 18; (b) Sell a kratom product that does not have a label that clearly sets forth: (I) The identity and address of the manufacturer; and (II) The full list of ingredients in the kratom product; (c) Knowingly prepare, distribute, advertise, sell, or offer to sell a kratom product to a person under twenty-one years of age; or (d) Display or store kratom products in a retail location in a manner that will allow the products to be accessed by individuals under twenty-one years of age."

Subsection (4) provides that "The executive director may promulgate rules that are necessary for the enforcement of subsection (3) of this section." Section 44-1-105 does not set a penalty of its own; the penalties described below come from the 2025 act and the age statute. The display rule in paragraph (d) also appears in C.R.S. 6-1-740(2)(c), where a violation carries the 2025 act's penalties.

Penalties for violating Colorado's kratom laws

Colorado's kratom penalties are civil. The 2025 act ties its rules to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act: under C.R.S. 6-1-740(3), "A person that conducts the activities described in subsection (2) of this section engages in a deceptive trade practice."

The Consumer Protection Act sets the civil penalty. C.R.S. 6-1-112(1) authorizes "The attorney general or a district attorney" to bring a civil action, and provides in paragraph (a):

"any person who violates or causes another to violate any provision of this article 1 shall forfeit and pay to the general fund of this state a civil penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars for each violation. For purposes of this subsection (1)(a), a violation of any provision constitutes a separate violation with respect to each consumer or transaction involved."

The cap rises when the victim is elderly. Under C.R.S. 6-1-112(1)(c), a violation "committed against an elderly person" carries a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation. Subsections (3) and (4) of the same section direct where certain collected penalties are deposited; they do not change the amounts.

A consumer injured by a deceptive trade practice may also bring a private civil action under C.R.S. 6-1-113. Outside a class action, that section provides for the greater of actual damages, $500, or three times actual damages for bad-faith conduct proved by clear and convincing evidence, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.

None of these provisions creates a jail term, a felony or a repeat-offense tier for kratom. Because C.R.S. 18-13-132 speaks of a conviction for the civil infraction, our guide to Colorado expungement laws explains how Colorado treats past court records.

Recent changes: the 2025 Daniel Bregger Act

SB 25-072 ("Regulation of Kratom") is Colorado's most recent kratom law. The Colorado General Assembly's bill page lists it as signed by the Governor on May 29, 2025, published as chapter 283 of the 2025 session laws, with an effective date of May 29, 2025; it applies to conduct on or after that date. The act added C.R.S. 6-1-740, whose short title is the Daniel Bregger Act, and amended the kratom definition in C.R.S. 18-13-132.

The legislature's summary of the act as enacted states: "A person that conducts these prohibited activities engages in a deceptive trade practice and is subject to penalties and other enforcement specified under the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act'." The candy, vaporization and synthetic-alkaloid bans and the two percent 7-OH ceiling all date from this act.

The General Assembly's bill records for the 2026 regular session contain no bill whose title or summary names kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH, so the 2025 rules are the current state framework.

Local kratom rules in Colorado

Cities and counties may not go below age 21. C.R.S. 18-13-132(2)(b) provides that a statutory or home rule municipality, county, or city and county "shall not enact an ordinance or resolution that establishes a minimum age to purchase kratom products that is under twenty-one years of age."

Local rules can otherwise be stricter. Under C.R.S. 18-13-132(2)(a), nothing in that section prohibits a municipality, county, or city and county from enacting an ordinance or resolution that "prohibits the sale of any kratom products to persons under twenty-one years of age or imposes requirements more stringent than provided in this section." The Colorado Attorney General's Public Advisory on Kratom Products and Regulations, issued August 13, 2025, states: "Consumers should be familiar with the laws, rules, and regulations of the city or county they reside in, as they may be more restrictive than those contained in Senate Bill 25-072." This page does not list individual city or county ordinances; check your municipal or county code.

Would federal scheduling change Colorado law?

Colorado's schedules change only by statute. Because C.R.S. 18-18-201 gives the General Assembly, by bill, the power to add or reschedule substances, and Colorado's schedules contain no clause adopting federal temporary scheduling orders, a federal order does not rewrite Colorado's schedules. The August 26, 2026 federal order described below is federal law in Colorado, as any federal scheduling order is, but it does not appear in C.R.S. 18-18-203 to 18-18-207. Colorado's two percent 7-OH ceiling is a consumer-protection limit, not a scheduling decision.

Federal kratom law

Kratom leaf, mitragynine and 7-OH are not listed in the federal schedules in the October 6, 2026 version of 21 CFR 1308. A DEA temporary order placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16 in federal Schedule I effective August 26, 2026 (91 FR 54948). The DEA filed a new notice of intent (FR Doc. 2026-20943, filed for public inspection October 9, 2026 and scheduled for publication October 14, 2026) to temporarily place 7-OH and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I when either one, or both combined, is above a threshold: more than 1 mg per gram in solid forms or more than 1 mg per milliliter in liquids, or a ratio of mitragynine to those compounds of less than 100. That notice states that the DEA's July 2026 notice of intent to temporarily schedule 7-OH above a threshold (91 FR 40917) is being withdrawn in a separate document. A second DEA notice of intent filed the same day (FR Doc. 2026-20942) proposes a new temporary order that would keep MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I "without change," to distinguish them from mitragynine pseudoindoxyl. Neither notice is an order, and the DEA says neither new temporary order will be issued before 30 days after publication, about November 13, 2026. The August 26, 2026 order stays in effect until it expires or is replaced by the new temporary orders, whichever comes first. The FDA's position is that kratom is not lawfully marketed in the U.S. as a drug product, a dietary supplement or a food additive in conventional food, and the FDA has warned consumers not to use kratom because of the risk of serious adverse events. Our kratom laws by state hub covers the federal layer in more detail.

Driving after using kratom in Colorado

Colorado's impaired-driving offenses reach any drug that impairs the driver. C.R.S. 42-4-1301(1)(f) defines driving under the influence as driving after consuming "alcohol or one or more drugs" that leave the person "substantially incapable" of safe operation, and (1)(g) defines driving while ability impaired as impairment "to the slightest degree"; "one or more drugs" covers any drug as defined in C.R.S. 27-80-203(13) and any controlled substance (42-4-1301(1)(d)). Subsection (1) contains no any-amount per se rule for drugs, and kratom is not listed in Colorado's controlled substance schedules. Our guide to Colorado DUI laws covers the penalties.

Related

• Kratom laws by state
• Colorado DUI laws
• Colorado expungement laws
• Colorado psilocybin mushroom laws

This article provides general legal information about Colorado state law as of October 11, 2026. It is not legal advice. Legislative sessions, agency rules, local ordinances and federal scheduling actions can change the rules. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Colorado or the Colorado Attorney General's office.

Last updated: 2026-10-11.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is kratom legal in Colorado?

Colorado's controlled substance schedules in C.R.S. 18-18-203 to 18-18-207 do not list kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH. Sales are regulated by C.R.S. 6-1-740 (the Daniel Bregger Act), C.R.S. 18-13-132 and C.R.S. 44-1-105, which set an age 21 rule, a 7-OH ceiling, label duties and bans on adulterated, synthetic, candy-like and vape products.

What is the kratom age limit in Colorado?

The age limit is 21. C.R.S. 18-13-132 bars giving, selling or offering a kratom product to anyone under 21 and requires the seller to examine a government-issued photo ID first; a violation is a civil infraction with a $200 fine. Selling to a person under 21 is also a deceptive trade practice under C.R.S. 6-1-740.

Is 7-OH legal in Colorado?

No Colorado schedule lists 7-OH by name, though no Colorado court has decided whether a 7-OH product could be treated as a controlled substance analog under C.R.S. 18-18-102(6) and 18-18-203(2)(g). C.R.S. 6-1-740 bars selling a kratom product whose 7-OH level in the alkaloid fraction is greater than two percent of its alkaloid composition, and bars distributing any kratom product that contains synthesized or semi-synthesized alkaloids.

Are kratom vapes legal in Colorado?

No. Since May 29, 2025, C.R.S. 6-1-740(2)(a)(V) has barred knowingly preparing, distributing, advertising, selling or offering to sell a kratom product that is combustible or intended for vaporization.

What is the penalty for selling kratom illegally in Colorado?

A violation of C.R.S. 6-1-740 is a deceptive trade practice, and the attorney general or a district attorney may seek a civil penalty of up to $20,000 per violation, counted per consumer or transaction, or up to $50,000 per violation against an elderly person (C.R.S. 6-1-112). Furnishing kratom to a person under 21 is also a $200 civil infraction under C.R.S. 18-13-132.

Can cities in Colorado ban kratom?

C.R.S. 18-13-132(2)(a) allows a municipality or county to impose requirements more stringent than that section, and (2)(b) bars one from setting a kratom purchase age under 21. The Colorado Attorney General's August 13, 2025 advisory warns that local kratom rules may vary and may be more restrictive than SB 25-072, so check your city or county code.

Will a federal 7-OH ban apply in Colorado?

A federal Schedule I order would apply in Colorado as federal law. Colorado's own schedules add substances when the General Assembly passes a bill (C.R.S. 18-18-201); the automatic rule in C.R.S. 18-18-203(3) covers only FDA-approved prescription drug products. The DEA's new 7-OH and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl proposal is a notice of intent, not an order.

Can you get a DUI for kratom in Colorado?

Colorado's DUI and DWAI offenses in C.R.S. 42-4-1301 cover driving after consuming one or more drugs that impair the driver, to the slightest degree for DWAI. Subsection (1) of that statute contains no any-amount per se rule for drugs. The Colorado DUI laws guide covers the penalties.