Yes, kratom is legal in Maryland. You can buy and possess it, and the state does not criminalize personal use at any age. Since October 1, 2024, though, the Maryland Kratom Consumer Protection Act has regulated how kratom is made, labeled, and sold, and every legal duty under that law falls on retailers and manufacturers rather than on the person buying.1Maryland General Assembly. Legislation – HB1229
What the Law Means for Buyers
If you purchase or use kratom in Maryland, the Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) imposes no criminal or civil penalties on you. That remains true even if you are under 21. The one thing you cannot do is buy it from a retailer while under 21, because the retailer is barred from selling to you. The legal exposure sits with the seller, not with you.
Before October 2024, kratom was completely unregulated in Maryland. The KCPA did not make kratom illegal; it built a consumer-safety framework around a product that had been sold without one.
Rules Retailers Have to Follow
Anyone who prepares, distributes, or sells kratom in Maryland has to meet a set of product safety, labeling, and sales requirements.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Health General 21-2E-02
Product Safety
A retailer may not sell a kratom product that is adulterated, meaning mixed or packed with a non-kratom substance in a way that affects its quality or strength enough to injure a consumer. Products contaminated with a poisonous or harmful ingredient, including any controlled dangerous substance, are also prohibited. The level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction cannot exceed 2% of the product’s total alkaloid composition. Products containing synthetic mitragynine, synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine, or any other synthetically derived compound of the kratom plant are banned outright.
Labeling
Every kratom product sold in the state must list the amounts of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine it contains. Retailers must also disclose on the label the factual basis for any claims or representations made about the product.
The statute additionally prohibits selling any kratom product that has not been “recognized as a dietary ingredient or approved drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” That language sits uneasily with federal policy, because the FDA has stated that kratom is not appropriate for use as a dietary ingredient and is not approved as a drug.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA and Kratom How Maryland reconciles this gap is an open question for retailers.
Age and Marketing
Retailers cannot sell kratom to anyone under 21. They also cannot market, label, or advertise kratom in ways that target minors, including the use of cartoons, superheroes, or images of people who appear to be under 27.
Penalties for Retailers
The KCPA splits penalties into civil and criminal tiers.
A retailer who fails to disclose the factual basis for representations on a label faces a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for each subsequent violation.
Selling a non-FDA-recognized product, selling an adulterated or contaminated product, breaching the 2% 7-hydroxymitragynine cap, selling a product with synthetic alkaloids, failing to include required alkaloid amounts on the label, or selling to someone under 21 are all misdemeanors. On conviction, a retailer faces a fine of up to $5,000, up to 90 days in jail, or both.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Health General 21-2E-02
Beyond fines and jail, a retailer who violates the KCPA is liable for civil damages a consumer suffers as a result of the violation. A buyer harmed by a contaminated or mislabeled product can sue the retailer directly.
The statute gives retailers one defense. If a retailer relied in good faith on representations from a manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor about the product, that reliance can be raised as a defense in a prosecution. Most retail shops don’t manufacture their own kratom and depend on supplier information for labeling, so this matters in practice, though the defense only helps after charges have already been brought.
Pending Changes: HB 1523
Maryland’s 2026 session introduced House Bill 1523, which would give the state’s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission new tools to enforce the KCPA. If enacted, the Commission’s executive director could seize, confiscate, or destroy kratom products that violate the KCPA’s product safety or marketing rules.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland House Bill 1523 – Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission – Unauthorized Consumable Products – Enforcement and Seizure
Non-compliant kratom would be classified as an “unauthorized consumable product.” Seized products would be presumed contraband and subject to forfeiture unless the retailer can show the product was approved for human consumption by the Maryland Department of Health or the FDA. Retailers selling unauthorized products would face an additional misdemeanor charge carrying a fine of up to $5,000, and a court could order suspension or revocation of the retailer’s business license.
The bill would move enforcement from waiting on criminal prosecution to allowing regulators to pull products off shelves directly.
Federal Rules That Affect Maryland Sales
Kratom is legal under Maryland law, but the federal picture influences what actually reaches the market.
The FDA considers kratom unlawful to market as a drug, dietary supplement, or food additive. It treats kratom as a new dietary ingredient without adequate safety evidence, which makes kratom-containing supplements adulterated under federal food and drug law, and kratom added to conventional food is classified as an unsafe food additive.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA and Kratom The FDA also maintains Import Alert 54-15, which directs customs officials to detain kratom shipments without physical examination and subjects flagged products to refusal of admission into the United States.5U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Import Alert 54-15 – Detention Without Physical Examination of Dietary Supplements and Bulk Dietary Ingredients That Are or Contain Mitragyna Speciosa or Kratom
Kratom and its primary alkaloids, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, are not currently listed as controlled substances under the federal Controlled Substances Act. In July 2025, the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services recommended that certain concentrated or semi-synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine products, such as vapes, shots, and gummies, be placed in Schedule I. That recommendation targets high-concentration products rather than natural kratom leaf. The DEA has not completed the rulemaking process, so no federal controlled substance ban applies yet. If scheduling does move forward, it would affect what Maryland retailers can sell, since many commercial products contain concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Local Bans in Maryland
No city or county in Maryland has enacted its own ban or additional restrictions on kratom. The KCPA sets a single standard that applies across the state.