top of page
Search

Arlington's Kratom Ban Starts November 18. The Fine Counts Every Day.

Chris Girard
7 days ago
4 min read

By Chris Girard, Thynk Industries

Arlington, Washington just banned kratom.

Not just 7-OH. Not just the synthetic stuff. Kratom, leaf included.

It starts November 18. And the way the fine is written, it doesn't add up once. It adds up every day.


What the city actually passed

The Arlington City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2026-024 on October 19. It creates a new chapter 6.12 in the city code and takes effect November 18.

The core line is one sentence. No one may "knowingly sell, distribute, advertise for sale or distribution, or permit to be sold, any kratom product in the City of Arlington."


Read the definitions, because that's where it gets wide.

Kratom means the whole plant. Any product with "any part of the plant Mitragyna speciosa and its leaves," plus extracts and synthetic versions. No potency line. A bag of leaf powder is in the same bucket as a 7-OH tablet.

Distribute means free, too. "Give away" is in the definition. Samples count.

Advertise means almost anything. Shelf displays. Signs at the store. Billboards. Flyers. Business cards. And "internet websites, social media, electronic classified advertisements, cell phone applications."

It doesn't ban possession. The Everett Herald confirmed that. It's a sales, ad, and distribution ban.


The fine

A violation is a Class 1 civil infraction. $250.

Then the ordinance does two things.

Each sale, each ad, each distribution is its own violation.

And when a violation runs over several days, "each 24-hour period" is "a separate and distinct violation."

Run that out. One display left on the counter for a month. One product page left live for a month. That's 30 violations. $7,500. That's my math, not the city's. The words are the city's.

And the fine isn't the worst part. The city can revoke or deny your Arlington business license.


Why "knowingly" won't save you

The ban says "knowingly." That sounds like a defense.

It isn't much of one. City Administrator Paul Ellis said the city plans to send a letter to its retailers. "The ones that have it will be on notice."

Once that letter's in your mailbox, you know.

Arlington isn't alone

The Herald counts Spokane, Spokane Valley, Bellingham, Cle Elum, Othello, and Mount Vernon as Washington cities that have already banned kratom. Arlington is the first in Snohomish County. The mayor told the Seattle Times he's talked with other north Snohomish County mayors who are interested in doing the same.

Meanwhile the state still has nothing. HB 2291, the kratom consumer protection bill, got a hearing on January 30 and never left the House committee. The city's own ordinance says Washington "has not enacted any laws or regulations governing the sale, advertisement of, distribution or use of kratom."

So Washington's kratom rules are getting written one city council at a time. That's the problem.

And the federal side is still a proposal, not an order. DEA's October 14 proposal covers 7-OH and a related compound above a set threshold. It doesn't touch leaf, and it doesn't change what Arlington just did.


What I'd do before November 18

Retailers in Arlington. Pull it. Shelves, counter displays, window signs, the menu board. All of it by the 17th.

Your website and socials. If your store is in Arlington, take kratom off the product pages and the posts. The ordinance lists websites and social media by name.

Distributors and online sellers. Know which of your ship-to addresses are inside Arlington city limits. Whether a website hosted somewhere else counts as an ad "in the City of Arlington" is an open question the ordinance doesn't answer. Don't be the test case.

Samples. Stop. Giving it away is distributing.

Keep the paper. Write down what you pulled, when, and where it went. If the city ever asks, that's your answer.

Build the map. Seven Washington cities now. More coming. Know where you can sell and where you can't, by address, not by county.


My prediction

This is a prediction, not law.

More Snohomish County cities follow Arlington before the Legislature does anything. Olympia gets a kratom bill again in January, and the cities don't wait for it.

The businesses that get hurt won't be the ones in Arlington. They'll be the ones who ship there and never checked.


Where Thynk fits

If you sell kratom anywhere in Washington, you need a city-by-city map and a plan to pull product, signage, and listings on a date. That's consulting work, and it's what we do: https://www.thynk.guru/contact-us

If you want your products, lots, and where every order went in one place when a city asks, that's ThynkFlow: https://thynkflow.io

Selling kratom in Washington? Tell me in the comments: how many cities on your list just turned into "don't ship"?

Thynk Industries is a compliance and operations consultancy. This is not legal advice. Talk to licensed Washington counsel about your products, your licenses, and your specific facts.


Sources

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page