No. Kratom is not legal in San Diego. The city has banned the sale, distribution, and possession of kratom inside city limits since 2016, and as of October 2025 California prohibits the sale and manufacture of kratom products statewide. That means you cannot legally buy kratom anywhere in California, and you cannot legally possess it in San Diego regardless of where you bought it.
What San Diego’s Ordinance Prohibits
The San Diego City Council passed an emergency ordinance on June 14, 2016 banning the manufacture, sale, distribution, and possession of kratom within city limits.1City of San Diego. Guide to Merchants Regarding Synthetic and Psychoactive Drug Laws The rules sit in Division 33 of the San Diego Municipal Code, alongside bans on synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones.2City of San Diego. San Diego Municipal Code Chapter 5 Article 2 Division 33
Two provisions matter for anyone with kratom in hand. Section 52.3303 makes it unlawful to sell or distribute the substance. Section 52.3304 makes it unlawful to simply possess it.1City of San Diego. Guide to Merchants Regarding Synthetic and Psychoactive Drug Laws That second piece is what catches people off guard. San Diego’s ban is not just a retail restriction. Carrying kratom powder or capsules inside the city is itself a violation, whether the product was purchased locally, ordered online, or brought in from another state.
The ordinance defines its target broadly. A “Novel Psychoactive Drug” is any compound with central-nervous-system effects similar to those of federally scheduled drugs, so long as the substance is not already regulated under state law.2City of San Diego. San Diego Municipal Code Chapter 5 Article 2 Division 33 Kratom’s alkaloids produce opioid-like effects, which is why the ordinance reaches it.
Penalties for a Violation
Anyone caught violating the ordinance can be cited or arrested, and can face administrative and civil sanctions.1City of San Diego. Guide to Merchants Regarding Synthetic and Psychoactive Drug Laws Because the ban is a municipal ordinance rather than a state criminal statute, violations are generally treated as misdemeanors, with fines and possible jail time. Property owners who receive written notice of a violation on their premises and fail to act can also be pulled into enforcement. Retailers carry the sharpest exposure, because they face both the municipal penalties and the state-level consequences described below.
California’s Statewide Ban
On October 24, 2025, the California Department of Public Health issued a consumer warning declaring that food, dietary supplements, and drugs containing kratom or 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) are dangerous and illegal to sell or manufacture in California.3California Department of Public Health. CDPH Warns Retailers and Public About the Dangers of Kratom The legal hook is the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the sale of adulterated food and dietary supplements. The FDA has never approved kratom as a safe dietary ingredient, so CDPH treats any kratom product sold for consumption as adulterated and therefore unlawful.4California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Warning to ABC Licensees Concerning Illegal Kratom and 7-OH Products
Enforcement has been active. Between January and February 2026, agents from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and CDPH visited more than 4,500 licensed retail locations across the state and seized over $5 million worth of kratom and 7-OH products. By March 2026, the state reported 95% compliance among businesses.5Governor of California. Governor Newsom Announces 95% Compliance With Prohibition of Illegal Kratom Products Businesses that keep selling can lose their liquor licenses through suspension or revocation.
One boundary is worth understanding. The state ban targets commercial activity: manufacturing and selling kratom for consumption. It does not by itself criminalize a consumer’s personal possession, though CDPH strongly advises against any kratom use.3California Department of Public Health. CDPH Warns Retailers and Public About the Dangers of Kratom San Diego’s ordinance goes further and bans possession outright.1City of San Diego. Guide to Merchants Regarding Synthetic and Psychoactive Drug Laws So even in the rare case that a consumer might escape state consequences elsewhere, that reprieve doesn’t exist in San Diego.
Bringing Kratom Into San Diego
Kratom remains legal in a number of other states, and the TSA does not specifically prohibit it in luggage on domestic flights. Neither fact helps once you arrive. If you fly into San Diego with kratom in your bag, you are in possession of a banned substance the moment you enter the city.2City of San Diego. San Diego Municipal Code Chapter 5 Article 2 Division 33 The same is true if you’re driving through on the way somewhere else; the possession ban applies while you are within city limits.
Online orders run into both layers of the law. Shipping kratom to a San Diego address puts the recipient in possession of a prohibited substance on delivery, and the seller is violating California law by selling kratom for consumption in the state.5Governor of California. Governor Newsom Announces 95% Compliance With Prohibition of Illegal Kratom Products
Federal Status
Kratom is not a federally scheduled substance, which sometimes leads people to assume it must be legal to buy and use. That inference doesn’t work in California. The FDA classifies kratom as a “new dietary ingredient” with no evidence of safety, so any kratom-containing supplement is “adulterated” under federal food safety law.6U.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 Under Import Alert 54-15, the FDA detains kratom shipments at the border without physical examination. The FDA has cited risks of liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder, along with product contamination by salmonella and heavy metals.7U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA and Kratom California’s ban rests directly on that FDA posture: CDPH cites the lack of FDA approval as grounds for treating kratom products as illegal under state law.5Governor of California. Governor Newsom Announces 95% Compliance With Prohibition of Illegal Kratom Products
What Could Change: AB 1088
The California Legislature has been working on a more detailed framework. Assembly Bill 1088, introduced in 2025, would formally add kratom and 7-OH products to the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law and create regulations rather than relying solely on CDPH’s adulteration authority.8California State Assembly. AB 1088 – Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Bill Analysis Key provisions would:
- Prohibit sales to anyone under 21.
- Cap 7-OH content at 2% of total kratom alkaloids in any product.
- Require child-resistant packaging meeting the federal Poison Prevention Packaging Act, or heat-sealed plastic at least four mils thick.
- Ban packaging using cartoons, toy imagery, or candy-style branding aimed at children.
- Require age-verification systems for online retailers.
As of mid-2025, the bill had been referred to the Senate Committee on Health. If it passes, it would open a regulated market for products that meet the standards, potentially replacing the current blanket prohibition. Until then, the CDPH ban is in full effect, and San Diego’s own ordinance sits on top of it.