A new year brings a new legislative season. Thousands of kratom consumers around the country are being threatened with criminalization in the form of state bans, as we wait for the federal government to move forward with criminalizing all consumers of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) via a national law that would make 7-OH a Schedule I controlled substance.
CALIFORNIA
Months after deciding that kratom is illegal, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continues to remove kratom and 7-OH products from shelves, despite no law prohibiting either substance. On January 16, CDPH once again gave its justification in an announcement:
Under the Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (aka Sherman Law), CDPH has authority specific to adulterated or misbranded food, drug, medical device and cosmetics. Food and dietary supplements containing kratom and/or 7-OH are adulterated pursuant to federal and state law. To date, CDPH has seized more than $5 million worth of kratom and 7-OH products. CDPH continues to take action to remove products or raw materials containing kratom or 7-OH from retail facilities selling to consumers for consumption and from locations where these products are manufactured.
CDPH has no authority to arrest citizens who are in possession of kratom or 7-OH products.
There are currently no bills that would ban kratom in the California Legislature.
GEORGIA
Georgia Republicans are once again trying to criminalize consumers of kratom and 7-OH. HB968 was introduced on January 16, “as to provide that mitragynine and hydroxymitragynine [sic] (7-OH) are Schedule I controlled substances”.
The American Kratom Association (AKA) is asking people to attend a hearing on Wednesday, January 28 at 1:30pm at the Subcommittee of Judiciary Non-Civil at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. If you would like to sign up with the AKA before attending, they have provided a form at https://www.protectkratom.org/georgia
IOWA
Three bills in Iowa are advancing to make kratom a Schedule I controlled substance: SF2013, HSB508, and HF2133. HF2133 was just introduced on January 21st, but the two other bills have been passed through respective committees and are advancing to a floor vote in both houses.
Rep. Izaah Knox stated, “It seems like bad actors doing bad things; bathroom chemists… But an unintended consequence may be that a good product is off the market until we figure out some better ways to regulate it.”
Not even a year ago, HF612, a bill that would regulate kratom and make it illegal to sell anything with a concentration above 2% of 7-OH was recommended passage by the Iowa House’s Public Safety subcommittee on March 4, 2025, but never advanced to a vote.
OHIO
The deadline to submit public comments to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy on a possible kratom ban is TOMORROW, January 28. Please submit comments to www.pharmacy.ohio.gov/MITcomment.
Click/tap here for more details on the possible Ohio ban
SOUTH CAROLINA
On January 13th, the South Carolina House introduced three bills that place kratom on Schedule I: H4636, H4641, and H4648. Only 8 months ago, the South Carolina Kratom Consumer Protection Act was signed into law by the governor. The act went into effect in July 2025, and prevents vendors from selling kratom to minors, requires kratom products be kept in locked display cases, implements label standards, and limits the amount of synthetic alkaloids in the product.
Prohibitionists, including state representatives, rehabilitation industry executives, and a coroner who claimed two kratom deaths in all of 2025, held a meeting in Berkeley County in early January, a week before the ban bills were introduced. They cited new derivatives like 7-OH as a reason to ban all kratom.
SOUTH DAKOTA
SB77 in the South Dakota Senate seeks to ban kratom. However, on January 21st, it passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services without recommendation. It also failed to be placed on the calendar for a floor vote under the Joint Rule that allows for bills to be voted on without recommendation, 20-13.
UTAH
SB45 would repeal Utah’s Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) and designate all alkaloids in kratom as Schedule I controlled substances. Utah’s KCPA was the first such law passed in the United States in 2019.
On Monday, January 26, the Senate Business and Labor Committee held a hearing on the bill. Both people against and in favor of the bill spoke. At the end of the hearing, the committee voted 7-1 to advance the bill.