Kratom: The Biggest Drug You’ve Never Heard Of
By: Sophie Levine
If you stop by any gas station or convenience store around Georgia, you are likely to see a sign advertising kratom. Kratom is not sold in big-box stores, but it is a billion-dollar industry in the United States.
The uninitiated may wonder, what is kratom? Kratom is a substance derived from the Mitragyna speciosa tree (or Kratom tree), native to Southeast Asia. Kratom leaves contain two known psychoactive ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which produce stimulant effects when consumed in low doses and sedative effects in high doses. It can allegedly lead to psychotic symptoms or psychological and physiological dependencies. Kratom has a long history of use in Southeast Asia but has only gained popularity in the United States over the last decade. Though not approved by the FDA for any medical use, it is used recreationally and to alleviate drug withdrawal symptoms, treat pain and manage mental health problems. It comes in many forms – users consume kratom as a capsule, powder, by mixing kratom powder into food or drinks or taking liquid kratom extract. Kratom is currently illegal in six states, regulated in 11 states and legal in the remaining 33.
In Georgia, the Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) has regulated how kratom may be sold and packaged since 2019. Under the KCPA, sales of kratom to minors is prohibited and kratom packaging must be labeled with ingredients, directions for use, manufacturer contact information, disclaimers and warnings. In the absence of federal regulations, these state-wide consumer protection acts are band-aid solutions in what is still the wild, wild west kratom industry. Because the substance remains unregulated and legal in the vast majority of states, most distributors and sellers are not held to any labeling or warning standards typical for regulated substances like alcohol and cigarettes. This precise gap in the law has led to a recent spate of wrongful death lawsuits concerning kratom throughout the United States.
It is a new area of litigation, but kratom cases are starting to pick up momentum. In July 2023, a judge awarded a Florida family $11 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the company who made kratom that allegedly led to 39-year-old Krystal Talavera’s death. One month later, a jury awarded $2.5 million to the Washington State family of Patrick Coyne, a 39-year-old man who died after using kratom. In the Florida lawsuit, The Kratom Distro and its owner, Sean Michael Harder, were held liable for Ms. Talavera’s death because the product was sold and marketed as an all-natural supplement with no warning labels or dosage recommendations. Similarly, in the Washington State suit, the jury found Society Botanicals, LLC, and its owner, Wendi Rook, liable for not placing proper warnings on its packaging.
These lawsuits are a few among many to have been filed and are currently pending against kratom manufacturers, distributors and sellers. This new wave of litigation harkens back to the dram shop laws that were codified in Georgia in the 1980s. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40 allows victims of drunk driving accidents to hold sellers of alcohol liable if the seller sold alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who the seller knew would soon be driving. These so-called dram shop laws opened liability for alcohol-related accidents far beyond what was previously possible. Because kratom is sold at convenience stores and gas stations, a dram-shop type law for kratom would leave these shops open to similar litigation. It is too soon to know how kratom cases will continue to play out, but stores that sell kratom and the insurers who insure them must be aware that this new legal fight is coming.
Attorney Contact Info
Sophie Levine
sophie.levine@swiftcurrie.com
404.888.6185