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Wyoming state senators are backing a bill that would ban a substance called kratom. Meanwhile, a similar effort in the House failed.
Local concerns
Erin Ivie jiggled a small white vial in her left hand, a black packet in her right. The vial tinkled, filled with pills.
“This right here is mitragynine. I bought it at Loaf and Jug,” she told Fremont County commissioners at a regularly scheduled meeting last August.
Ivie is the county coroner.
“This one is 7-hydroxymitragynine (7OH),” she said of the black packet. “It is 10 times more potent … Since there are no laws in the state of Wyoming against kratom, this can be sold to 10 year olds.”
Ivie had just told the commission a second person in Fremont County had died that month from the less potent version of the drug in her hands, mitragynine, more commonly known as kratom or “gas station heroine.”
Kratom is often marketed as an herbal supplement for lifting mood and boosting energy. It’s derived from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia and contains two major psychoactive ingredients that bind to the same receptors in the brain as opioid drugs.
It’s sometimes taken to ease opioid withdrawal. But it also carries its own risk of psychological and physiological dependence.
Small doses produce a mild stimulant effect, according to research compiled by the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA). Moderate to high doses produce opioid-like effects, and very high doses act like a sedative.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any kratom products. In fact, it warns consumers “not to use kratom because of the risk of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder (SUD).”
Still, it’s been popping up in drinks and powders in stores across the state, often without clear labeling or dosage information.
“It's highly addictive,” Ivie told the commission. “It even says so right on the packaging that they're not responsible for any addiction. And coming off of kratom is one of the hardest things you'll do. It is called the ‘gas station heroin’ for a reason. It is very hard to come off of once you've started taking it.”
She added Narcan will work for an overdose, just as with opioid overdoses.
Ivie said many counties and some cities in other states have banned kratom.
In fact, as of April 2025, LAPPA counted 24 states and the District of Columbia regulating kratom or its components in some manner. Six states plus D.C. have declared kratom’s psychoactive components to be controlled substances. The other 18 regulate the sale, possession and manufacture of kratom products. Much of the enabling legislation came about in the past two years.
Ivie asked if that’s something Fremont County would be willing to do.
But without a state law allowing for local regulations, commissioners and the Fremont County coroner were unsure what they could do.
Legislation proposed
Since then, lawmakers in both the state House and Senate have proposed bills to either prohibit or regulate kratom.
HB 185 - Kratom-prohibition, sponsored by Rep. Pepper Ottman (R-Riverton), notes the FDA has recommended federal scheduling for 7‑hydroxymitragynine, a recently documented salmonella outbreak linked to kratom products in 41 states, and emerging data showing rising emergency medical and poison control encounters involving the drug. The bill would have made it illegal to “knowingly manufacture, sell, distribute or possess a kratom product” and instituted a misdemeanor offense.
But the bill failed to be introduced.
Down the hall in the Senate, another bill to regulate kratom is moving forward. But the Senate Judiciary Committee passed an amendment that would ban it outright.
SF 56 - Kratom product regulation, sponsored by Sen. Bill Landen (R-Casper), initially would’ve required clear labeling with a recommended dose, set a minimum age limit of 21 for buyers and set a maximum level of 7‑hydromitragynine in kratom products.
While introducing his bill on the Senate floor on Feb. 10, Landen said he didn’t know much about kratom until six months ago. He said his bill came from a constituent whom he considers a friend.
“She is getting over devastation of the last year and a half, because a year and a half ago, her son committed suicide. The coroner has indicated that this substance was in his body,” Landen said. “Two other coroners have reached out to me in the meantime since I began to draft this legislation and have indicated that this substance is also in the systems of other suicide victims. And I regret to tell you, senators, that here in Laramie County, the coroner here has identified the first victim of an overdose of this product.”
He added, “The more I read, the more that I find out across our state, Mr. President, I wonder if we don't want to ban this substance altogether. And so I have drafted an amendment already for whatever committee this might go to … This is not really all about individual freedom at all. Our first duty is to protect.”
The bill passed introduction with 29 senators voting in favor, one against and one excused.
When it came up for discussion in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Landen again pushed for more stringent legislation.
“ This bill was drafted to put a regulation on this substance 21 years of age and older,” he said. “The more research that we did, the more convinced we were that this product should be banned in Wyoming.”
That research included findings from Landen’s aide, University of Wyoming student Sam Kaiser. Kaiser told the committee that from 2022 through 2024, toxicology reports confirmed kratom was present in nine deaths in the state.
Casey Patterson, drug intelligence officer for the state Division of Criminal Investigation, added that in three cases during that same timeframe, kratom was the only drug found in postmortem toxicology. Patterson added the number could be higher because not all coroner’s offices run this particular drug panel.
“In Wyoming, there have been fatal overdoses in which [kratom] was the only substance detected,” he testified.
Angela Farrand, DHSc, MPH, with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, said they’re seeing patients experiencing “really violent” withdrawals.
“We see it affect the heart, lungs, brain, liver, kidneys, digestive system. We're withdrawing these patients as if they were already on opioids.”
She said they’re mostly treating adults who are using kratom to replace opioid pain medication or mixing it with other substances for a longer, more intense high.
“And it's legal, right? So they feel like it's maybe better for them if they take something that they're finding at a gas station versus something that's more illicit,” she said. “I think that the lack of regulation has led people to believe that it's safe and that's why we're seeing it more clinically.”
Janet Farmer, the Wyoming director of the National Association of School Nurses, said it’s showing up in schools
“School nurses, especially secondary school nurses, are definitely seeing this because it's cheaper and it's easier to get for students. They can just walk to the gas station and get it.”
Ashley Schluck, the traffic safety resource prosecutor for the state of Wyoming, said she’s had to become a “pseudo expert” in kratom because her office has seen an increase in drivers using it.
She said it’s particularly concerning that tea and coffee shops are selling drinks with kratom products in them.
“So, obviously of concern, people are drinking these items and then they are leaving and they are getting in their cars and they're driving.”
Landen’s amendment to change his regulatory bill to prohibition easily passed. Dispensing, distributing, manufacturing or producing kratom and tianeptine would be barred, if the bill becomes law.
Discussion focused more on how and when to begin enforcement.
Testing for kratom derivatives can be expensive with long wait times if tests are sent out of state. The committee backed adding a one-time $500,000 appropriation for equipment, with $75,000 a year secured for ongoing maintenance for the next two years. They also supported hiring a full-time employee within the Division of Criminal Investigation.
The amendment also defined what exactly would be prohibited, including any part of the leaf of the plant mitragyna speciosa in any form or derivative of, such as 7-hydroxymitragynine, as well as tianeptine.
The prohibition sets a criminal penalty of up to $750, putting it on par with Wyoming’s marijuana paraphernalia fines.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill as amended and referred it to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration of the updated funding request.
