Baltimore officials are taking a legal swing at the companies behind a kratom supplement they say was dressed up as a wellness product while carrying addiction risks more commonly associated with opioids. The lawsuit seeks to stop sales in the city and puts a fast-growing gray-market supplement industry squarely in the local courtroom.
Mayor Brandon Scott and the Baltimore City Council filed suit against JOpen LLC, Martian Sales LLC, and Pur Botanicals LLC, according to WBAL NewsRadio. The city alleges the companies marketed kratom as an organic product for pain relief, mood enhancement, and focus, while Scott said the substance is addictive and behaves like an opioid.
Maryland’s New Kratom Rules Raise The Stakes
The case arrives just weeks after Maryland’s latest kratom restrictions took effect on July 1. Under the law passed by the Maryland General Assembly, retailers may not sell certain kratom products that lack FDA recognition as a dietary ingredient or approval as a drug, contain excessive levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, use synthetic kratom alkaloids, or fail to disclose the amount of key compounds.
The statute also bars retailers from advertising therapeutic benefits for kratom or selling it to anyone under 21. Violations can bring misdemeanor charges, fines of up to $5,000, and possible seizure or forfeiture of products, giving Baltimore’s civil lawsuit a newly sharpened regulatory backdrop.
FDA Warnings Back Baltimore’s Health Concerns
The city’s allegations echo warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which says there are no FDA-approved kratom drug products or over-the-counter medicines legally on the market. The FDA has warned about serious adverse events including liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder, while noting that kratom’s primary compounds bind to the same brain receptors targeted by opioid drugs such as codeine.
That federal guidance does not decide whether the Baltimore defendants violated the law, and the city’s claims remain allegations. The complaint posted online will now set the stage for arguments over product labeling, marketing language, health risks, and whether a judge should order the companies to stop selling in Baltimore.
A Wider Legal Fight Over Kratom Products
Baltimore is joining a broader fight over concentrated kratom products and the way they are sold to consumers. In May, Hoodline reported that a Kansas City judge declined to immediately remove 7-hydroxymitragynine products from store shelves, citing competing expert evidence while that case continued.
The Baltimore case could become an early test of how aggressively a city can use consumer-protection and public-health theories against kratom distributors after Maryland adopted tougher statewide rules. For residents, the practical question is whether products promoted as natural supplements will remain easy to find—or become the next category of convenience-store merchandise that suddenly requires a lawyer’s attention.
