AUSTIN - Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against kratom retailers operating under the name Smokey’s Paradise.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of deceptively marketing and selling kratom products containing up to 96 percent 7-hydroxymitragynine – nearly fifty times the legal limit allowed under Texas law.
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.
“Kratom is addictive and deadly,” the suit states. “Because of its potency, the Kratom Act sets strict limits on the alkaloid content of kratom products sold in the state. Texas seeks an injunction ordering Smokey’s to immediately cease the sale and distribution of these kratom products in Texas and civil penalties…”
The lawsuit is a part of a sweeping initiative by Paxton to crack down on the illegal distribution of kratom products containing addictive alkaloids at levels extremely dangerous to Texans.
Paxton says his 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 percent to 96 percent of total alkaloid content, far exceeding the 2 percent 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 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.”
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.
