Legislation introduced by Representative Rick Townsend would impose an outright ban on natural kratom leaf products in Georgia — a sweeping move that directly contradicts the stated positions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Townsend’s bill ignores the Trump Administration’s clear focus on dangerously formulated synthetic threats to consumer safety.
Townsend’s bill (HB 968) makes two terrible mistakes: (1) the bill fully bans both natural leaf kratom products (mitragynine) and dangerously addictive synthetic and chemically formulated products called 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as Schedule I substances; and (2) and repeals Georgia’s existing Kratom Consumer Protection Act. The Townsend bill will instantly convert hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Georgia consumers into felons and expose them to extended jail terms, despite their use of products that are currently lawful and safely formulated under Georgia law.
Federal leaders have been clear: the real danger to consumers is highly concentrated synthetic, chemically manipulated 7-OH knock-offs — not responsibly manufactured natural kratom leaf products.
At a July 29, 2025, media event addressing the scheduling of 7-OH, FDA Commissioner Marky Makary underscored that enforcement is aimed at synthetic and chemically manipulated products and not natural kratom leaf products consumed responsibly by adults.
Likewise, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has aligned federal health policy toward targeting synthetics and illicit manufacturing practices — precisely the opposite of Rep. Townsend’s approach, which sweeps safe, regulated products into his felony dragnet.
“Rep. Townsend’s bill not only fails to protect consumers, it puts kids at high risk,” said Mac Haddow, senior fellow on Public Policy for the American Kratom Association. “He has personally criticized Georgia’s existing kratom law for weak enforcement — yet he has repeatedly refused to support the very enforcement authorities the American Kratom Association has advocated to target bad actors and dangerous synthetics. This bill abandons smart regulation in favor of mass criminalization.”
The consequences are immediate and severe. By repealing Georgia’s Kratom Consumer Protection Act and scheduling naturally occurring constituents found in the kratom leaf, the Townsend bill would:
- Criminalize responsible adult consumers in Georgia overnight;
- Eliminate age limits, labeling, testing, and manufacturing standards that currently protect Georgians that is in the Georgia Kratom Consumer Protection Act;
- Divert law enforcement away from dangerous synthetics and toward kratom consumers who benefit from properly regulated kratom products;
- Stand in direct conflict with the FDA’s and HHS’s stated priorities; and
- Create a black market for dangerously adulterated kratom products that puts Georgia kratom consumers — and kids — at risk for products laced with illicit drugs like fentanyl.
Georgia already has a solution that works: regulation.
Safely formulated kratom products — tested, labeled, and sold with age restrictions. Today, these safely formulated natural kratom leaf products are consumed by hundreds of thousands of Georgians without incident. Rep. Townsend’s bill tears down those safeguards and replaces them with a prohibition that federal health leaders have explicitly rejected.
Bottom line: Rep. Townsend is not protecting consumers. He is ignoring the chief health authorities in the Trump Administration who protect the health and safety of consumers, undermining proven state safeguards, repeats an outdated and discredited anti-kratom narrative pushed by ambulance chasing trial lawyers, and is pushing a prohibition that unfairly punishes responsible Georgia natural kratom leaf consumers.
For what purpose: To provide Rep. Townsend another few minutes in front of a camera while he puts responsible Georgia kratom consumers in front of a judge.
About American Kratom Association (AKA)
Media Contact
Mac Haddow
Senior Fellow on Public Policy
mhaddow@americankratom.org
