Kansas And Tennessee: Bans Begin 7-1-2026
Kansas And Tennessee Customers
Beginning July 1st, 2026 (7-1-2026), full kratom bans will be enacted in both Tennessee and Kansas. These bans include both the sale and possession of kratom, in any form. With that in mind, we will be halting shipping at the end of June to those states to ensure both our company and customers are in accordance with the new laws.
There's so much to discuss on this topic, but I will try to cover a basic gist of what we've experienced this year while fighting for kratom to remain legal for responsible adult consumers.
"Advocate, Educate, & Appreciate... Appreciate each other and our botanical because our community, our kratom family, is something special; one of the most precious gifts I've personally experienced in my nearly 4 decades of life." - Bekkah with Taunton Bay
But That's Not All
Truly, 2026 has been one of our hardest fights yet. Several states and local areas (cities, counties, etc.) banned kratom or attempted to ban kratom in some way before most state legislature sessions ended. Keep in mind, this is still an ongoing issue eve through the summer as not all states follow that schedule and some legislatures operate year-round. As I type this, Ohio is also deciding whether to enact a full kratom ban or not.
While we saw miracles come to life in Rhode Island, which decided to turn around their kratom ban and make it legal for adults again, we watched others ban the sale and possession of kratom, effectively criminalizing hundreds of thousands of everyday American adult consumers and our industry, made up of mostly small businesses like Taunton Bay.
We also saw states like Utah that chose to "shadow ban" kratom by making it extremely expensive and creating preposterous rules to be allowed to sell kratom in the state - even as an online business operating outside of Utah. Kratom may still be legal for adults in Utah, but most of the small businesses that make up our industry are unable to operate in Utah due to high registration fees, and the new hoops to jump through to get approved. They also only want kratom sold in smoke shops or "specialty tobacco businesses", which is something the kratom community has spoken out against time and time again. Like many other vendors, we've had to make the hard decision to stop shipping kratom to Utah at this time.
Advocate, Educate, & Appreciate
If you follow us on TikTok, you know that "Advocate, Educate, & Appreciate" is my new personal motto. Advocate for responsible adults to have access to kratom and therefore their own freedom to choose. Educate others in a truthful, non,-biased way, share the science on kratom with tools like www.kratomindex.com, share your own personal story so everyone can learn about kratom and make a thoughtful decisions on whether they are interested in kratom, and choose to be for or against keeping it legal. And finally, Appreciate - appreciate each other and our botanical because our community, our kratom family, is something special; one of the most precious gifts I've personally experienced in my nearly 4 decades of life.
The Fight Continues
At Taunton Bay, we believe everyone deserves their freedom as adults living in America, and the right to choose kratom (or not) for themselves. At this time, we may need to stop shipping to certain areas, and we have updated our shipping policies extensively in the last few months, but we will continue to fight for you all in any way we are able.
Kratom has never been about the money for us - of course we want to make a decent living like any other person living on Earth - but we don't, and have never, charged expensive amounts for our products because we believe in giving our community informed access to high quality, inexpensive botanical products... if they choose to do so.
Everyone in Tennessee, Kansas, Utah, and beyond who has been affected negatively by these bans - we thank you for your support over the years and please don't give up. Keep sharing your stories, share the science, encourage others to research, etc.. If we did it before, we can do it again, and that gives us hope.
- Bekkah and the Taunton Bay Kratom Family
