Texas AG Sues Kratom Retailers for Deceptive Marketing and Selling Deadly Substance

Detected February 9th, 2026

Summary

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against kratom retailers for deceptively marketing and selling products with dangerously high levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, far exceeding legal limits. The suit seeks to end the distribution of these illegal products and impose civil penalties.

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What changed

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Smokey's Paradise, a kratom retailer operating in Texas, for allegedly violating the Texas Kratom Consumer Health and Safety Protection Act. The lawsuit claims the retailer deceptively marketed and sold kratom products containing up to 96% 7-hydroxymitragynine, a potent opioid alkaloid, which is nearly fifty times the legal limit of 2% allowed under Texas law. The investigation revealed laboratory testing confirming these dangerously high concentrations, as well as the presence of prohibited synthetic alkaloids.

This enforcement action seeks to immediately halt the sale and distribution of these illegal kratom products within Texas. The Attorney General's office is pursuing civil penalties, legal costs, and other relief authorized by the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and related statutes. Retailers and distributors of kratom products in Texas should review their product formulations and marketing practices to ensure compliance with state law, as non-compliance may result in significant penalties and legal action.

Source document (simplified)

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against kratom retailers operating under the name Smokey’s Paradise—with locations in Midlothian, TX—for deceptively marketing and selling kratom products containing up to 96% 7-hydroxymitragynine (“7-OH”). That is nearly fifty times the legal limit allowed under Texas law. This lawsuit is a part of a sweeping initiative by Attorney General Paxton to crack down on the illegal distribution of kratom products containing addictive alkaloids at levels extremely dangerous to Texans.

Kratom is a psychoactive substance derived from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa plant that produces opioid-like effects and carries serious risks of addiction, respiratory depression, and overdose, particularly when products are adulterated with concentrated or synthetic alkaloids. To protect consumers from these dangers, the Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Kratom Consumer Health and Safety Protection Act in 2023, establishing strict potency limits and prohibiting synthetic additives.

Attorney General Paxton’s investigation revealed that the defendants sold kratom products containing illegally high concentrations of 7-OH, a potent opioid more than twenty times stronger than morphine, as well as synthetic alkaloids that are expressly prohibited under Texas law. Laboratory testing confirmed that multiple products sold to Texas consumers contained 7-OH levels ranging from 86% to 96% of total alkaloid content, far exceeding the 2% maximum allowed by the Texas Kratom Consumer Health and Safety Protection Act.

“Kratom is addictive and deadly, and I’m suing these companies for knowingly endangering Texans by selling products with nearly 50 times the legal limit of this opioid,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Legislature enacted clear safeguards to protect consumers from deadly kratom products, and my office will aggressively enforce those laws against anyone who puts Texans’ health at risk with these drugs.”

Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit seeks to end the sale and distribution of these illegal kratom products in Texas, along with civil penalties, costs, and other relief authorized by law under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and other statutes.

To read the lawsuit, click here.