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Kratom Information Blog, Kratom Legislation News
Is Kratom Legal in Indiana in 2023?
Jan
Indiana, the home state of Michael Jackson, is dubbed “The Hoosier State” and its people are “Hoosiers”. Curiously, no one knows where the name came from and what Hoosier actually means.
If you happen to be a TV show “Parks and Recreation” fan, we have bad news for you. Pawnee, Indiana, does not actually exist. Neither does Eagleton. Or Eerie.
However, there’s a town called Santa Claus. It was originally Santa Fe, but they failed to open a post office because another Santa Fe had already claimed the name.
Santa Claus, Indiana, keeps the Christmas theme all year long and welcomes almost half a million letters to Santa a year. They even have streets with names such as Rudolph Boulevard and Dasher Lane.
Can you ask Santa Claus to bring you kratom for Christmas if you live in Indiana? Let’s find out if kratom is legal in the Hoosier State.
Is Kratom Legal in Indiana?
Unfortunately, currently, kratom is illegal in Indiana. The Indiana State Senate banned kratom in 2014 and classified it as a Schedule I controlled substance.
Indiana is one of the few American states that chose to ban kratom or Mitragyna speciosa. It’s a herb native to Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, and other Southeast Asian countries. It comes in three different vein types: red, green, and white.
In 2014, the Indiana Senate amended the law and listed mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, the two primary kratom alkaloids, among the prohibited drugs. As a result, kratom is a Schedule I controlled substance along with dangerous drugs such as heroin.
Initially, the bill suggested including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as synthetic substances. Both kratom alkaloids were labeled as synthetic cannabinoids mimicking the effects of cocaine and marijuana. That is clear misinformation as kratom is neither a synthetic drug nor a cannabinoid. It comes from the Rubiaceae or coffee plant family as is related to coffee rather than cannabis.
However, later the authorities realized the mistake and amended that part. Sadly, they did not decriminalize kratom. Instead, they classified kratom as a Schedule I hallucinogenic substance. This again is inaccurate. Some studies actually point out that kratom may have anti-hallucinogenic properties.
Penalties for Possessing or Selling Kratom in Indiana
The possession of kratom products such as powder or capsules is a Class A misdemeanor. This can lead to up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.
Certain enhancing circumstances can increase the severity of the consequences. The possession of kratom can result in Level 6 felony if you:
- Have been previously convicted of possessing scheduled substances,
- Bought kratom for or shared it with a minor,
- Had kratom on you within 500 feet of a school or public park,
- Had kratom on you within than 100 feet of a drug abuse rehabilitation facility, or
- Carried a firearm while having kratom on you.
For these reasons, a person may face from six to thirty months in jail.
Efforts to Reverse the Ban
Many want the situation to change. In 2018, the Kratom Trade Association (KTA) was collecting funds for a campaign that aimed to reverse the kratom ban in Indiana. However, there are no updates on whether any progress was made.
Yet, according to the KTA’s newsletter, they were the only organization actively trying to reverse the ban on kratom. They also claim that language to reverse the kratom ban was nearly amended into a bill in early 2018. But the opposition insisted on researching the matter further first.
We cannot confirm this though as this newsletter is the only source of information that we have on the matter.
The American Kratom Association (AKA), a non-profit advocacy group, actively works to keep kratom legal across the country. The organization targets a number of states that do not regulate kratom. It also aims to reverse the ban in states where kratom is illegal and convince them to pass the Kratom Consumer Protection Act instead.
Nonetheless, when the AKA announced in early 2021 the priority states that it would be targeting, Indiana was not among them.
Thus, at the moment, kratom still remains illegal.
Where to Buy Kratom in Indiana?
Due to the kratom ban, it is illegal to buy or possess the herb in Indiana. It is not available for sale locally, and you cannot purchase it online as vendors won’t ship to the states where kratom isn’t legal.
If you need kratom to improve your well-being, it’s best not to look for ways to get kratom elsewhere. We understand your pain. Yet, we urge you not to break the law.
Possessing kratom products in Indiana can cause legal consequences. In addition to that, such action can have a severe negative effect on the reputation of kratom.
There are people and institutions who’d like kratom banned on a federal level. This already nearly happened in 2016 when the DEA issued a statement on its intent to ban kratom in the entire US.
While the DEA retracted it, the FDA actively refers to kratom as a drug of concern with a high risk of abuse. There are also regular bills aiming to get kratom banned in other parts of the United States.
However, we would be grateful if you could support any action that would aim to reverse the Indiana kratom ban. If you want kratom to be legal in Indiana, sign petitions or take part in other forms of kratom activism.
Keep in mind that how you advocate for kratom legality matters. The AKA may not focus on kratom legality and the Kratom Consumer Protection Act in Indiana at this time. Yet, it has resources that can help you prepare. Please check out the AKA’s Kratom Advocacy Toolkit for more information.
Would you like to know more about the legal status of kratom in other places in the US? Refer to this blog post and see an updated map on kratom legality in the United States.
This is ridiculous I am a Kratom buyer in TX and there is no hallucinogenic properties to this herbal product. As a former drug addict this has helped keep me sober and take away pain from being hit by a car almost a year ago where my leg and shoulder were broke and I had a concussion and suffer from multiple migraines a month. This has seriously helped. People just need to be educated about Kratom. Then maybe there hearts will change.
Thank you for voicing your opinion, Amanda. We, too, hope for a future where kratom is more accepted. There are more studies being carried out on kratom alkaloids at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Hopefully, that’ll shed more light on the beneficial properties of kratom and debunk the false claims about the herb.
It really comes down to pharmaceutical lobbying. Seriously. These people are so greedy that they lobby for laws to throw people in jail, at anything that might take a tiny percentage of their profits away. They fought like crazy for almost a century over pot. One of the most benign substances out there. I’ve had friends that have served years in jail and have no future, all over that, even though the public has finally had enough and pushed back on that one.
Look at opium for example. Codeine used to be in children’s cough syrup when I was growing up. They prescribed it for pain for just about anything, all the time. There were no massive ODs related to that at all. But you can’t make big bucks off of morphine or codeine since you can’t patent it now can you? Hence hydrocodone and oxy. They’re semi-synthetics, not naturally occurring. So you can jack the hell out of the prices on something people could get for cheap.
These laws are not there to protect us. Your government representative doesn’t give one damn if you live or die. they could care less. It’s all about protecting pharmaceutical company profits and lining their own pockets, even if it means throwing tens of thousands of people in jail who’ve done nothing to anyone else in the world other than self medicating themselves to relieve pain.
At over half a century old, it’s offensive as hell that anyone-and I mean ANYONE-would dare tell me what the hell I can put in my body. Sorry for the tone of this but it is extremely frustrating that these laws a regulations keep getting passed that are for nothing more than enhancing some company’s profits over peoples’ personal lives.
Hello, Rick,
We understand your frustration. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
As a chronic pain sufferer for over 30 years, I would love to have an alternative to the “gatekeepers” i.e. doctors that are scared to prescribe due to governmental fear tactics!
I received relief from my pain and was LEGALLY prescribed 100 mcg/h fentanyl patches for 20+ years! Then, my G.P. doctor retired and have never found another doctor that cared or would help me with ANY meds!
I am embarrassed to say that today I am forced into out-patient drug rehab and as then I ALWAYS follow my doctors’ rules and advice! WHY am I being punished because of a few other people’s actions!
Seriously, have gun deaths affected the legal sale of guns? Have car crashes stopped law-abiding citizens from driving again? Have alcoholics and drunk drivers affected ANYONE over the age of 21 to have the ability to buy alcohol virtually anytime and anywhere?!
Obviously, the answer to ALL is a big fat NO!!!
Why do today’s doctors all seem to care less whether a person suffers needlessly because some people abuse them and the DEA says ‘we are watching YOU’?!
I have tried every legal way to obtain meds that will allow me to live life without constant pain! ALL have failed!
Now, my state of Indiana has decided that I must drive to ANY connected state like Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan or Illinois to buy an ‘herbal medicine’ like Kratom? I can remember when you could by what is now called Extacy in your local health store!
So, what can be done? Does ANYONE have ANY ideas?!?!
Better question; why does our government spend billions of dollars to “fight” a “drug war”? Why not do what the best & smartest European countries have done? Have clinics where people can go and be given a choice of getting a prescription for a schedule 1 drug -or- if/when they are ready or NEED it, rehab? The crime rate in these countries has dropped by well over 50%!!! On top of that, people that lived on the streets are mostly employed instead of out stealing for their next fix! The costs in monies and human lives destroyed would drop by well over 50% in the USA!!! Just think of the money and lives saved if we could empty our jails of those there due to drug seeker related crimes!!! That could be as high as 60 – 80% of those currently incarcerated on ANY given day!!! Lastly, because these people are getting pharmaceutical grade drugs prescribed by a doctor, the death rate drops infinitely! How many die simply due to a “bad batch” or even more often lately, buying say heroin and getting the much cheaper and more powerful fentanyl?! How many of these deaths would be avoided?! ALL OF THEM!!! The #1, 2 and 3 reason people overdose and die and/or are mentally or physically injured by drugs is one, they have NO idea how to safely use it and two, EVERY time is a roll of the dice because they CAN’T know what it is they are actually taking!!!
BOTTOM LINE: IF our government REALLY wants to stop overdoses, like they ALL say they do, then the USA NEEDS to look at how the smartest and most advanced successful thinking countries deal with so-called ‘drugs of abuse’ and form a similar system HERE!!! We ALL know the reason, too many closed minds in the USA. Even our own history shows exactly what happens when you illegalize a drug. Simply look at how many people died during prohibition! Anyone can look up this statistic; alcohol is the MOST dangerous regulated drug out there!!! As little as 5 – 7 times the effective dosage can kill you!!! More people die BECAUSE of alcohol and alcohol-related illness in this country than almost ALL other causes of death combined!!! Today the housewife is more likely to die from liver problems related to alcohol the next THREE others COMBINED!!! Remember, during prohibition people were drinking unregulated “alcohol” that was often poisoned! When will we EVER wake up to the reality of this recent taboo on opioids?! EVERYTHING and everyone has good and bad intrinsically there! The best is all we can do and that is to mitigate the bad as much as possible, “without throwing out the baby with the bathwater”!
IF we want to change things then people need to be educated. Unfortunately, in this country, this and MOST other kinds of education ARE and WILL remain absent as our society because it seems to be unable to be educated! Just as we see today a rapid increase in Americans believing in a flat earth, that global climate change is seen as simply “The Weather” and intelligent design to name just a few areas where too many Americans refuse to be educated as to how and why virtually ALL empirical, theoretical and evidentiary information proves them wrong!
Where do we go from here?! As far as I can tell education using time tested proven facts means nothing to WAY to many people in this country! So, my answer is not in MY lifetime. What about you…
Hello Gerry, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
You said: When will we EVER wake up to the reality of this recent taboo on opioids?! EVERYTHING and everyone has good and bad intrinsically there! The best is all we can do and that is to mitigate the bad as much as possible, “without throwing out the baby with the bathwater”!
I agree. Too many people I know with legitimate, life-long health issues are suffering because of this, many of whom have taken opioids safely for many years. Now they suffer. When I suggest trying kratom to some, it is often illegal in their state…Indiana and Arkansas (and I think Alabama was the state where another person lived).