NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A state rule now taking shape would write kratom into Tennessee workplace drug standards, a step that could matter to injured workers, even as local agencies keep finding the substance in stores more than four months after lawmakers outlawed it.
The ban on owning or selling kratom took effect July 1, 2026. Kratom is a leaf product from a tree that grows in the tropics, and state mental health officials warn that it can have effects similar to opioids or stimulants.
Enforcement has played out county by county. A sheriff office south of Nashville said its deputies pulled kratom goods from 21 businesses during a single September sweep.
The largest single find came in October at a Memphis warehouse, where a regional multi-agency unit said it turned up nearly 30,000 packets of outlawed synthetic kratom. Nobody was arrested at the time. The state has not yet compiled one count of how many checks, arrests or charges have followed the ban.
The workplace piece is separate. The same 2026 measure, Public Chapter 950, directs the state labor commissioner to write kratom into the definition of a drug under the voluntary Drug-Free Workplace Program. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development took public comment on the change at a hearing in Nashville on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The rule would not force any employer to test for kratom, and it would only reach businesses that choose to join the program. The bigger effect would be on workers compensation. When an employee of a participating business is hurt on the job and tests positive, the law presumes the drug played a role, which can sink a benefits claim. Workers can fight that by offering clear and convincing proof that the drug was not to blame.
Written comments are being accepted until 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 24. After that, the rule still needs review by the attorney general and by the legislature Joint Government Operations Committee, and no effective date has been set.
Section: More Nashville TN politics news
Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
