This article was originally published by the Montana Free Press.
Mara Silvers and Nora Mabie
Montana Free Press
The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council has banned the sale, use and possession of kratom, an unregulated plant-derived substance that can have addictive properties from the tribe’s reservation in north-central Montana.
The move, enacted via a Sept. 12 resolution, will criminally penalize retailers selling kratom products, which aren’t currently regulated at the state or federal level. Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services did not immediately respond to a question about the potential penalties for retailers.
Tribal Councilmember Lyle Rutherford said the council has not yet established criminal penalties for possessing kratom because the body must first “figure out a mechanism to enforce it.”
“We need to make sure we have enough law enforcement to do it,” he said. “We’re supposed to have a discussion this week with law enforcement and the courts.”
Blackfeet officials said the move, an apparent first among tribal governments in Montana, is intended to prevent the proliferation of potentially addictive products that can have opioid-like effects. The tribe in 2022 declared a state of emergency for fentanyl and drug overdoses, citing 17 overdoses and four drug-related deaths in one week.
“The main component is we just don’t want any of these forthcoming issues back on our plate,” Rutherford said. “Because if you look at Indian Country, or if you look across the nation, we have a nationwide issue when it comes to opiates.”
Kratom, often marketed as a mood stabilizer, has become widely sold in gas stations, vape shops and online. Some users have touted it as a way to transition off of using other substances, including alcohol and opioids.
But kratom products are often synthesized, creating inconsistent chemical properties and potencies. Some health researchers have said that synthetic products — particularly those with high levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH — pose a higher addiction risk because of their effect on the brain’s opioid receptors.
7-OH products have recently come under fire by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services. Officials there, including Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have said they intend to restrict access to those kratom derivatives through the Controlled Substances Act.
In their September resolution, the Blackfeet tribal council emphasized “the potential for dependence and withdrawal symptoms similar to those experienced with opioids.” The resolution also noted the lack of current enforcement by the FDA. The Blackfeet Tribe Department of Revenue sent a notice about the ban to businesses that sell or promote kratom on Sept. 22.
Rutherford said the council voted on the issue after constituents presented on the adverse effects of kratom use during prior meetings. Before that, he said he hadn’t heard much about the substance.
“I asked some other questions, like who’s selling this? Where is it being sold at?” he said. “And a lot of it was being sold at our convenience stores. And it’s becoming one of the bigger sales from our youth. So that actually threw up a major red flag.”
Kendra Gobert — a cashier at Paula’s All Occasion Gifts, a retail store in Browning — said the store primarily sold kratom in the form of beverages, which she said had been “a pretty popular item.”
“Before we sold it, a lot of people in town said they had to travel out of town to get it,” she said. “They were going to Kalispell and Missoula to get it. So (kratom) was bringing in some business.”
Gerard Padgett, a domestic violence advocate and former tribal prosecutor, said he saw kratom in nearly every gas station he visited this summer on and off the reservation.
“You see this thing just looking like a blissful 5-hour Energy drink,” he said. “I asked some doctors in my family about it. I looked online. I learned of a truly heartbreaking, tragic tale. And then it clicked for me that this is destroying people’s lives.”
Padgett said he’s glad the council instituted the ban.
“We’re always waiting on the feds or the state to do something … but we can do more for ourselves,” he said. “Here, the Blackfeet Tribe took an initiative before the state.”
Businesses and public health advocates sparred over kratom restrictions during the 2025 Montana Legislature, presenting conflicting views that ensnared lawmakers. One bill, the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, would have regulated what types of products can be marketed as kratom and barred the sale of the products to minors.
The legislation, which was dramatically revised throughout the session, received blowback from lawmakers for different reasons — from Democrats who pushed for higher taxes on products sold and from Republicans who opposed any legalization route for an addictive substance. It eventually died in process.
Without concrete state or federal action, some Montanans have been trying to rein in use at the local level. Public health agencies such as RiverStone Health in Billings have begun messaging about kratom and the possible risks of dependency. Former users have taken to social media to warn against purchasing the products.
