Georgia: HB968

Bill Summary

This bill schedules natural alkaloids as Schedule I—directly contradicting the FDA's July 2025 guidance that targeted only concentrated synthetic 7-OH while explicitly protecting natural kratom leaf. The vague "derivatives, analogs, metabolites" language, product form bans, US-grown-only requirement, and real-time surveillance logging constitute a de facto prohibition, not the evidence-based KCPA model (labeling, testing, age restrictions) that FDA guidance supports.

Why it matters to MAHA

GA HB968 abandons the FDA-backed KCPA approach in favor of drug war prohibition. The FDA explicitly distinguished between natural kratom (safe, no action) and concentrated synthetics (restricted). Georgia instead bans both, imposes surveillance, and makes the product unavailable, the opposite of FDA guidance and the consumer-protection framework MAHA endorses through state-level KCPA adoption.