Subcommittee hears emotional testimony and technical debate on bill to reclassify kratom alkaloids; no vote taken

The Judiciary Noncivil subcommittee heard three hours of testimony and debate on House Bill 968, a proposal to reclassify kratom alkaloids (including mitragynine and 7‑hydroxymitragynine) and related high‑potency products as Schedule I. Sponsor Representative Townsend (referred to as Rick in floor remarks) said he brought the bill on behalf of constituents after discovering manufacturers and retailers were selling products that exceed legal limits and hide ingredients from consumers.

Medical and public‑health witnesses told personal stories and presented clinical data. Patrick Filkins, faculty toxicologist and assistant director of the Georgia Poison Center, told the panel that the center has recorded 503 kratom exposures in Georgia since 2021 and described a 66 percent increase from 2022 to 2025 in reported cases. "Since 2021, just in Georgia, we've had 503 cases of kratom toxicity reported to our center," Filkins said, and he warned that modern products are frequently spiked with synthetic metabolites that can be far more potent than the natural leaf.

Family members who lost relatives described sudden deaths and prolonged addiction they attribute to kratom products. Karen Davenport, a nurse…