Is Kratom legal in United Kingdom?

Also known as: mitragyna speciosa, ketum

Legal status

Not a controlled drug. Kratom, the leaf of Mitragyna speciosa, is not named in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as in force on 2 October 2026, and no generic paragraph reaches it: the Schedule has no botanical entry for it, and its alkaloids are not reached either, because mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are indole alkaloids in which the tryptamine skeleton is fused into further rings, the side chain carbons and the 2 position of the indole being built into a ring system, whereas the tryptamine limb at Part I, paragraph 1(b) allows only «inclusion of the nitrogen atom of the side chain (and no other atoms of the side chain) in a cyclic structure;» and, at the 2 position, only an alkyl substituent, so neither alkaloid is within it. It falls instead to the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, whose section 2 applies it to any substance that «is capable of producing a psychoactive effect in a person who consumes it, and» is not exempted, section 2(2) defining the effect as one that, «by stimulating or depressing the person's central nervous system, it affects the person's mental functioning or emotional state». Schedule 1 to that Act exempts controlled drugs, medicinal products, alcohol, nicotine and tobacco products, caffeine and ordinary food, and kratom is none of those. The text read is the legislation.gov.uk revised text of the Act as in force on 2 October 2026, whose Schedule 2 page states «There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, SCHEDULE 2.» The last amendment that text incorporates is the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2024, S.I. 2024/1361, in force 15 January 2025; a title search of the same site for 2025 and 2026 found no later amending Order, and the draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2026 is marked «This is a draft item of legislation and has not yet been made as a UK Statutory Instrument.» Schedule 2 moves by Order in Council under section 2(2), which reads «Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such amendments in Schedule 2 to this Act as may be requisite for the purpose of adding any substance or product to, or removing any substance or product from, any of Parts I to III of that Schedule», so this does not rule out a later amendment. Section 2(1)(a) also makes a controlled drug of anything specified «in a temporary class drug order as a drug subject to temporary control (but this is subject to section 2A(6));» the only such Order found in force, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) Order 2026, S.I. 2026/613, in force from 11 June 2026 for one year, lists seven synthetic opioids of the orphine type, from cychlorphine to 5,6-dichlorobrorphine, and this row is not among them.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. No provision of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 or of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 provides a death sentence; the highest punishment in Schedule 4 to the 1971 Act is imprisonment for life. Kratom is reached as a psychoactive substance on the section 2 effect test, not by name, because the 2016 Act has no list. Under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 producing it, section 4, supplying or offering to supply it, section 5, possessing it with intent to supply, section 7, and importing or exporting it, section 8, each carry on indictment «on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or a fine, or both.» Each offence needs knowledge or suspicion that the substance is psychoactive and, for production, supply and import, intent or recklessness that it will be consumed for its psychoactive effects. Sale is supply under section 5, and the Act has no separate trafficking offence. Simple possession is not an offence, except possession in a custodial institution with intent to consume it, section 9, which carries «on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine, or both.» Use is not an offence. The Act sets no quantity threshold and no presumption of supply. Section 11 and Schedule 2 exempt healthcare and approved research activities. The administrative route is the prohibition notice and prohibition order under sections 12 onward, and breach of an order is the section 26 offence, also two years on indictment. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the offender was aged 18 or over, a supply near a school, through a courier under 18 or in a custodial institution must be treated as aggravated under section 6.

If prescribed or medical

It is not a medicinal product with any authorisation known to this cell and is not in any Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, so there is no prescription route; Schedule 2 to the 2016 Act exempts activities of a health care professional acting in the course of the profession.

Documentation

No Home Office controlled drug licence applies, because it is not a controlled drug; the Home Office page at https://www.gov.uk/travelling-controlled-drugs, read on 2 October 2026, concerns controlled drugs only. Bringing it into the United Kingdom for consumption for its psychoactive effects is the section 8 import offence, and the Act has no personal allowance.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with United Kingdom’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.