Around 30 locations with food and beverage licenses in Yellowstone County sell kratom products, including a handful of specialty bars. In mid-January, 67-year-old retired ultrasound technician Roland Morrison is drinking a brewed drink at his favorite one.
“You talk to people and meet friends, and it’s just a nice place to be,” said Morrison.
The kratom plant contains trace amounts of the psychoactive chemical 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, which can be concentrated into pills, shots and various other forms. Morrison says he only drinks tea brewed from the kratom leaf, which he says is more mild.
“It relaxes me,” he said.
Other customers here say kratom helps with pain, like 39-year-old construction worker Ryan Mork.
“Doesn’t take care of the pain, but it definitely helps you mitigate that without having to use other pharmaceuticals and things of that nature,” said Mork.
36-year-old contractor Jesse Hunt says he drinks kratom and another plant, kava, as an alternative to alcohol.
“I’ve met a lot of really great people just from the kava community,” said Hunt.
This location gave YPR permission to interview its customers with the condition we not name the business.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration labels the kratom plant “an unsafe food additive.” The local food code authority told tea houses like this one to remove kratom by Jan. 1, or risk fines and legal action.
Some members of the local tea bar scene are pushing back. They say there’s a big difference between natural kratom and synthetic versions like 7-OH.
Around half the nation regulates kratom and its byproducts, but lawmakers in Montana have so far tried and failed to pass testing requirements or other regulations. Yellowstone County Health Officer Jon Forte at RiverStone Health says they can’t afford to wait for legislators to draw those boundaries, that “Montanans are dying now.”
Quantifying overdose deaths can be difficult, though.
According to the Montana Department of Justice, the State Crime Lab only recently introduced more advanced testing that can detect specific chemicals, like 7-OH. Data from the State Crime Lab show kratom chemicals in 25 overdose investigations since 2020, seven from a single source and 18 alongside other drugs.
But death isn’t the only concern the substance poses, according to drug counselor Marlene Upchurch with the Rimrock Foundation in Billings. Upchurch says her clients are struggling with addiction to kratom products, many of which are available over the counter at smoke shops and gas stations.
“The shots, people take those a lot, and then the packets of however milligrams of capsules are in there, but a lot of people will just go and grab those little shots from the gas stations,” said Upchurch.
This month, RiverStone began sending inspectors to different locations in Yellowstone County to check for compliance. A handful of the locations are tea houses, but many are gas stations with food and beverage licenses. Some are already following updated federal guidance that restricts kratom and its derivatives, like one Cenex Zip Trip in Billings.
Manager Skyla Allen says staff removed kratom products months ago.
“We used to sell little kratom shots, and we had a bunch of people coming in buying those, but I told them once they’re gone, they’re gone, and they’re not coming back,” said Allen.
RiverStone Health says as of this month, most businesses have already removed kratom products or are working on coming into compliance. William Grundhauser runs DaKava House in downtown Billings and says he’s not one of them.
“We passed our inspection right before 2026 came about with no problem, with a verbal warning that they would be back to take away our bestselling products and essentially our business,” said Grundhauser.
Grundhauser is at his other business on a recent weekday in January, a martial arts center with fighters practicing on the mats just through the front doors. He said he’s in favor of regulation, but that food code enforcement fails to address locations like smoke shops while targeting his business.
“If you want to be educated by people that are passionate about this, that believe in it, that know the benefits of it and the risks of it, come see us and let us educate you,” he said.
Yellowstone County Health Officer Jon Forte said there isn’t enough research yet to fully understand the risks.
“And until federal guidelines change and we have clear, scientific data to prove that kratom is safe food human consumption in food and beverage, it will continue to be unallowed within licensed food establishments,” said Forte.
Lawmakers are considering measures to take in the 2027 legislative session.
