News · 2026-08-10
Georgia Investigation: Most Kratom Products Violate State Potency Laws, Consumers Left in the Dark
Source: The Current GA
Why it matters
Lab testing of kratom products sold at Georgia stores found most violated state potency laws, and in many cases labels concealed the presence of dangerous synthetic compounds. A 24-year-old Brunswick man died in February 2026 after consuming a product his family believed was safe.
The big picture
Georgia has had kratom laws since 2019 but has created no regulatory body or enforcement mechanism to test whether products actually comply. Between 2019 and 2025, state medical examiners detected kratom in more than 740 accidental overdose victims statewide — and public health officials say the real number is higher because most counties do not routinely test for kratom alkaloids. The state's first kratom laws came from industry-backed legislation, and repeated efforts to ban synthetically concentrated products have stalled.
Key findings
- Lab tests of 8 products bought at Chatham County stores found 6 violated at least one of Georgia's potency laws
- One product — Dopium chewable tablets — contained 24 times the legal limit of 7-OH per serving, with no disclosure on the label
- Lab tests of MIT 45 Super K, the same product found near a 24-year-old fatality, showed 399 mg of mitragynine per bottle; the legal serving limit is 150 mg
- Georgia's poison control center handled 108 kratom-related cases in 2025; about 80 came from health facilities seeking emergency guidance
- Poison control centers nationwide logged a 1,200% increase in kratom-related incidents between 2015 and 2025, per CDC data
What they say
Patrick Filkins, clinical toxicologist at the Georgia Poison Center, said: "Patients who become daily users are either trying to get off fentanyl, or they start using it for some other purported health care reason. They become dependent on it, and the withdrawal is particularly severe." American Kratom Association executive Mac Haddow conceded that synthetic kratom products "pose a real risk" and agreed they should be banned.
Bottom line
A three-month investigation by The Current GA found that most commercially sold kratom products in Georgia exceed legal potency limits and that mislabeling leaves consumers with no reliable way to know what they are consuming.