North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong Enacts HB 1628 Banning Synthetic Kratom and Regulating Natural Sales

BISMARCK, N.D. — Capping an expedited three-day special legislative session convened to address escalating public health and consumer safety concerns, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1628 into law on September 4, establishing a comprehensive statutory ban on synthetic kratom derivatives while instituting strict regulatory controls over natural botanical products.

The legislative enactment concludes a month of rapid administrative action in Bismarck. On August 3, Governor Armstrong had utilized statutory executive emergency powers to declare a statewide public health emergency, issuing an executive order that temporarily placed an immediate moratorium on the retail distribution of all kratom-based products across North Dakota. With the formal passage and executive signature of HB 1628, the governor formally rescinded the emergency decree, transitioning the state to a permanent statutory framework administered by the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office and state health authorities.

The newly enacted statute establishes a decisive legal distinction between synthetic chemical analogs and traditional whole-leaf botanicals. The law outright bans the manufacture, commercial distribution, possession, and sale of synthetic kratom formulations, specifically criminalizing dangerous concentrated compounds including 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, and novel designer analogs known in laboratory testing as MGM-15 and MGM-16.

For unadulterated, natural kratom products, HB 1628 institutes sweeping regulatory hurdles designed to prevent youth access and ensure product purity. The measure prohibits sales to any individual under the age of 21, requires all commercial retailers to obtain an annual operating license from the Attorney General, and establishes mandatory "truth-in-labeling" protocols. Under these guidelines, commercial products must undergo rigorous batch testing by state-accredited independent laboratories, with finished packaging clearly disclosing exact milligram concentrations of natural alkaloids while explicitly barring candy-style branding, cartoon imagery, or youth-oriented marketing.

"Our administration made it clear that North Dakota would not sit idly by while unverified, highly concentrated chemical compounds were sold openly in convenience stores and tobacco outlets across our state," Governor Kelly Armstrong stated in Bismarck. "While our initial preference was a total statutory ban on all iterations of these products, the Legislative Assembly worked collaboratively and decisively to craft robust legislation that eliminates dangerous synthetics, establishes stringent consumer safeguards, and protects North Dakota youth from predatory marketing."

State public health directors and medical professionals had testified before legislative committees that concentrated synthetic analogs act upon opioid receptors with unpredictable potency, leading to an increase in regional emergency department admissions, poison control calls, and severe addiction cases across the Upper Midwest.

Under the provisions of HB 1628, the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services and state law enforcement agencies will begin compliance inspections across regional retail establishments immediately. Retailers found selling prohibited synthetic compounds or providing botanical products to underage consumers will face statutory misdemeanor and felony penalties, alongside mandatory license revocation.