Is Kratom Legal in Montana? (2026 Law and 7-OH Status)

Montana does not list kratom, mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) in any of its five drug schedules, and no Montana statute sets a kratom age limit, label rule or seller license. The schedules in MCA 50-32-222 to 50-32-232 name no kratom compound as the 2025 code reads, the 2025 kratom bills died, and the Legislature does not meet again in regular session until January 4, 2027, when interim committee drafts to schedule or regulate kratom may be introduced. A compound that is not listed could still be treated as a Schedule I dangerous drug analogue if it meets that definition's terms (MCA 50-32-101(7), 50-32-222(11)). Federal law is separate and is moving. 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 Montana state statutes on kratom and its alkaloids as they read in the Montana Code Annotated 2025: the drug schedules (MCA 50-32-222 to 50-32-232), the definitions and federal-scheduling clause (MCA 50-32-101, 50-32-203), the dangerous-drug offenses in Title 45, chapter 9, and the DUI statute (MCA 61-8-1002), plus 2025 bills and 2026 interim committee drafts, one county health-department position and one paragraph on federal law. It does not cover the full text of the Administrative Rules of Montana (beyond the Board of Pharmacy's rule notices), tribal law, city or county ordinances other than the one named, employer or school policies, or other states' laws.

Is kratom a controlled substance in Montana?

Montana's schedules do not list it. The Montana Controlled Substances Act sorts drugs into Schedules I through V, set out in MCA 50-32-222, -224, -226, -229 and -232. None of those sections names kratom, the plant Mitragyna speciosa, mitragynine or 7-OH. The Schedule I list does name other plant-derived compounds; for example, its hallucinogenic-substances subsection lists psilocybin and psilocyn (MCA 50-32-222(4)).

Montana's drug crimes are built on those schedules. MCA 50-32-101(6) defines the term the offenses use:

"'Dangerous drug' means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V set forth in Title 50, chapter 32, part 2."

Kratom, mitragynine and 7-OH are not listed as dangerous drugs in those schedules. Schedule I also includes "dangerous drug analogues" (MCA 50-32-222(11)), and MCA 50-32-101(7)(a) defines that term:

"'Dangerous drug analogue' means any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that is structurally related to or chemically derived from any dangerous drug in Schedules I through V set forth in Title 50, chapter 32, part 2, or that is expressly or impliedly represented to produce or does produce a physiological effect similar to or greater than the effect of a dangerous drug in Schedules I through V."

The term excludes a substance already listed in the schedules or in an administrative rule, one approved for use by the FDA, and one otherwise specifically excepted (MCA 50-32-101(7)(b)). The 2025 code does not except kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH, and the Attorney General's advisory quoted below says 7-OH is not approved by the FDA. So a kratom compound could be treated as a dangerous drug analogue if it is structurally related to or chemically derived from a scheduled drug, or is represented to produce or does produce a physiological effect similar to or greater than one.

Montana's health department, in its own kratom fact sheet, describes 7-OH as acting "like an opioid" and "considered more potent than morphine"; that is the department's description, not a court ruling. This page cites no Montana court decision applying the analogue clause to kratom compounds. The Board of Pharmacy can also designate a dangerous drug by rule (MCA 50-32-202). The board's rule notices through MAR Notice No. 2026-131.2 (effective September 26, 2026) include no rule or emergency rule on kratom, mitragynine, 7-OH or the compounds in the August 2026 federal order. This page reflects the Montana Code Annotated 2025 and the Legislature's own records as of October 11, 2026.

Montana's Attorney General addressed 7-OH's listing status in a September 3, 2025 advisory:

"Currently in Montana it is not listed as a controlled substance in the Montana Code Annotated or on any federal controlled substances list. 7-OH is not approved by the FDA, is not lawful in dietary supplements, and 7-OH cannot be lawfully added to conventional foods."

Not being listed is not the same as being approved. Federal food and drug rules still apply in Montana (see the federal section below).

Does Montana have a kratom age limit or sales rules?

No Montana statute sets one. The code contains no kratom-specific section, so it sets no minimum age to buy kratom, no label requirement, no seller registration and no 7-OH cap. The 2025 bill that would have created a Kratom Consumer Protection Act, HB 407, died (see the bill history below).

One county health department has acted under existing food rules. RiverStone Health, the Yellowstone City-County Health Department, enforces the Montana Food Code against kratom food and beverage products in licensed retail food establishments in Yellowstone County. Its FAQ (updated January 8, 2026) says:

"No, this is not a ban. RiverStone Health is beginning the enforcement of existing regulations, applicable to all Counties in Montana, prohibiting the sale of unapproved dietary ingredients, products or additives in retail food establishments."

That position concerns licensed food establishments. It is not a state criminal law and does not make possession an offense.

Kratom bills in the Montana Legislature (2025 to 2027)

The 69th Legislature's 2025 regular session ended on April 30, 2025. The Legislature's bill records show how its kratom bills ended:

There was no regular session in 2026, so Montana passed no kratom act that year. The 70th Legislature's 2027 regular session begins January 4, 2027.

Two interim committees prepared kratom drafts in 2026 for that session. Neither is law, and drafts change before introduction.

• Schedule I draft (Economic Affairs Interim Committee). PD 0003 (text as of June 9, 2026) is titled "An act designating mitragynine and hydroxymitragynine as controlled substances in Montana; and amending section 50-32-222, MCA." It would add both alkaloids to the Schedule I list, so it reaches mitragynine, the leaf's main alkaloid, and not only 7-OH. The committee's September 10, 2026 agenda listed "PD0003 Sponsor Selection," and a matching bill-draft request, LC0661, "Designate kratom as controlled substance," was in drafting (status "Draft in Input/Proofing") on October 7, 2026. A separate legislator request, LC0024, "Generally revise laws relating to Kratom," had a drafter assigned on September 8, 2026; no draft text was available. The draft sets no new penalty; scheduled drugs fall under the existing offenses in Title 45, chapter 9. The committee's meeting materials also list a separate kratom regulation draft, PD 0004.
• Consumer protection draft (Law and Justice Interim Committee). LJIC PD6 (text as of August 21, 2026) would create a Kratom Consumer Protection Act "providing kratom product restrictions; providing labeling requirements; providing civil penalties; providing for misdemeanor and felony convictions." Among its product restrictions is a product that "contains a level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction that is greater than 2% of total alkaloids in a container," and its civil penalties begin at "a fine of $5,000 for each noncompliant product." The committee's August 2026 bill-draft table describes it as a preliminary draft to be revisited in a revised version on September 1, 2026 (committee materials). The committee's September 1, 2026 agenda listed PD6 beside a second draft, LJIC PD7, "Creating the unregulated intoxicating consumer products control act," with approval of PD6 and/or PD7 as a potential action item. The Legislature's 2027 bill-draft records list LC0385, "Create the unregulated intoxicating consumer products control act," requested by a committee and in drafting (status "Draft in Final Drafter Review") on October 8, 2026. PD7's August 21, 2026 text does not name kratom. It states a purpose of "prohibiting the commercial sale of an unregulated psychoactive consumer product in Montana unless the product is authorized under state law and subject to regulatory oversight," and defines a "psychoactive consumer product" to include a substance intended for human consumption that "produces a psychoactive or intoxicating effect on the central nervous system, including effects associated with stimulant, sedative, euphoric, hallucinogenic, or opioid-like activity."

The two drafts take opposite approaches: PD 0003 would schedule the alkaloids, while PD6 would regulate products and restrict concentrated 7-OH.

How federal scheduling reaches Montana's schedules

Montana does not copy federal scheduling changes automatically. MCA 50-32-203 provides:

"If any drug is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a 'controlled substance' under federal law and notice thereof is given to the board, the board shall similarly control the drug under this chapter after the expiration of 30 days from publication in the Federal Register of a final order designating a drug as a 'controlled substance' or rescheduling or deleting a drug unless, within that 30-day period, the board objects to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion."

The clause turns on notice to the Board of Pharmacy and a federal "final order." The federal action of August 26, 2026 is a temporary order, and the code does not say whether the board treats a temporary order as a final order under this section. As the 2025 code reads, Montana's schedules do not list mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 or MGM-16, the three compounds in that order. Federal Schedule I controls on those three compounds, including on possession, apply in Montana as federal law either way.

Penalties if a kratom compound is treated as a dangerous drug

Each Montana drug offense applies to a dangerous drug. Kratom, mitragynine and 7-OH are not listed as dangerous drugs, so these penalties would apply to a kratom compound only if it is added to a schedule (for example, by a bill such as PD 0003) or treated as a dangerous drug analogue under MCA 50-32-222(11). In that case, these are the sentences the statutes set for dangerous drugs:

Possession is a felony-range offense: the possession sentence is a state-prison term, and Montana defines a felony as an offense punishable by death or "imprisonment in a state prison for a term exceeding 1 year" (MCA 45-2-101(23)).

The production offense uses the statute's own definition. Under MCA 45-9-110(1), a person commits it by knowingly or purposely producing, manufacturing, preparing, cultivating, compounding or processing "a dangerous drug, as defined in 50-32-101." So growing a plant that contains a scheduled compound can be charged as production or manufacture once that compound is a dangerous drug.

The school-property offense applies when a person commits criminal distribution under MCA 45-9-101 "in, on, or within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school." Its 3-year minimum applies "except as provided in 46-18-222," and it is an affirmative defense that the conduct "took place entirely within a private residence" and "no person 17 years of age or younger was present in the private residence at any time during the commission of the offense" (MCA 45-9-109(4)).

Other general rules shape those sentences:

• Fine cap. A felony fine is set by the judge and, except as subsection (5) provides, may not exceed $50,000 (MCA 46-18-231(4)).
• Prior felony. Except as MCA 46-18-222 provides, a judge may not defer imposition of sentence in a felony case for an offender previously convicted of a felony (MCA 46-18-201(1)(b)).
• Offenders under 18. Mandatory minimum sentences and several deferral and parole restrictions do not apply if the offender "was less than 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense" (MCA 46-18-222(1)).
• Overdose help. The possession statute does not apply to a person who in good faith seeks medical help for someone experiencing a drug-related overdose, or to a person who experiences one, when the evidence was obtained as a result of seeking that help (MCA 50-32-609(1)). The section does not list the distribution offense.

Federal kratom status in October 2026

As of the October 6, 2026 text of 21 CFR 1308.11, kratom leaf, mitragynine and 7-OH are not listed in the federal schedules. A DEA temporary order placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I effective August 26, 2026. DEA's July 6, 2026 notice of intent to schedule 7-OH above a threshold is being withdrawn in a separate document, according to a new notice of intent (FR Doc. 2026-20943) filed for public inspection on October 9, 2026 and scheduled for publication on October 14, 2026, in which DEA proposes to temporarily place 7-OH and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I when either alone, or both combined, exceed 1 mg per gram (solids) or 1 mg per milliliter (liquids), or when the mass of mitragynine divided by that amount is less than 100. 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". Neither notice is an order, and the DEA says neither new order will be issued before 30 days after publication, about November 13, 2026. The August 26, 2026 order stays in effect until it expires (a temporary order expires after two years unless extended by up to one year) or is replaced by the new temporary orders, whichever comes first. The FDA says kratom is not lawfully marketed as a dietary supplement or a food additive, and it "has warned consumers not to use kratom because of the risk of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder (SUD)."

Driving after taking kratom

Under MCA 61-8-1002(1)(a), a person commits driving under the influence by driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle on the ways of this state open to the public "while under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or a combination of alcohol and any drug." That clause is not limited to scheduled drugs. The statute's separate per se clause, subsection (1)(f), applies to a person who, without a valid prescription, has a listed substance in their blood at or above a set level; the list names amphetamine, cocaine and its metabolite, heroin and two heroin metabolites, LSD, methamphetamine, phencyclidine and fentanyl, and does not name kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH. For penalties and testing, see our guide to Montana DUI laws.

Related

• Kratom laws by state
• Montana DUI laws
• Montana psilocybin mushroom laws

This article provides general legal information about Montana law as of 2026-10-11. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Montana or the relevant state agency.

Last updated: 2026-10-11.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is kratom legal in Montana?

Montana's drug schedules in MCA 50-32-222 to 50-32-232 do not list kratom, mitragynine or 7-OH, and no Montana statute sets a kratom age limit or sales rule. An unlisted compound could still be treated as a Schedule I dangerous drug analogue if it meets that definition's terms (MCA 50-32-101(7), 50-32-222(11)); no Montana court decision applying the clause to kratom compounds is cited on this page. Federal rules, Board of Pharmacy rules and local food-code enforcement can still apply.

Is 7-OH banned in Montana?

7-hydroxymitragynine is not listed in Montana's Schedules I through V as of the 2025 code, and the Attorney General said in September 2025 that it was not listed as a controlled substance in the Montana Code Annotated. A 2026 interim committee draft (PD 0003) would add hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine to Schedule I, but it is not law. Schedule I also covers dangerous drug analogues, and 7-OH could be treated as one if it meets the definition in MCA 50-32-101(7).

Is there a kratom age limit in Montana?

No Montana statute sets an age limit for buying kratom. The 2025 Kratom Consumer Protection Act bill (HB 407) died on May 20, 2025, and the 2026 interim drafts are not law.

Will Montana ban kratom in 2027?

The Legislature's next regular session starts January 4, 2027. An Economic Affairs Interim Committee draft (PD 0003) would list mitragynine and hydroxymitragynine in Schedule I, and a matching bill-draft request (LC0661) was in drafting in October 2026. A second request, LC0024, is titled “Generally revise laws relating to Kratom”; no draft text was available as of October 11, 2026. A committee request titled “Create the unregulated intoxicating consumer products control act” (LC0385) was in drafting on October 8, 2026; its August 2026 committee draft (LJIC PD7) does not name kratom. A bill becomes law only if the Legislature passes it and it is enacted.

Does a federal 7-OH order automatically apply in Montana?

A DEA order applies in Montana as federal law. For Montana's own schedules, MCA 50-32-203 says the Board of Pharmacy similarly controls a drug 30 days after a federal final order is published, after notice to the board, unless the board objects within that period.

Is kratom banned in Yellowstone County?

RiverStone Health says it is not a ban. It enforces existing food-code rules that prohibit unapproved dietary ingredients, products or additives in licensed retail food establishments, which reaches kratom food and beverage products sold there.

Can I get a DUI after taking kratom in Montana?

Montana's DUI offense covers driving under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or a combination (MCA 61-8-1002(1)(a)), which is not limited to scheduled drugs. Kratom compounds are not on the statute's blood-level per se list.