Parents hope law putting restrictions on Kratom will help save lives following son’s death

ATLANTA — John and Dana Pope stood outside the governor’s office Thursday morning waiting for something they weren’t sure they’d ever see two and a half years after their 23-year-old son Ethan died from an accidental overdose of the herbal supplement Kratom -- a law regulating it.

“He was dead on his kitchen floor,” Dana Pope said as she clutched a photo of her son. “The coroner said it was Kratom, and we were like, what? We’d never even heard of that.”

Ethan’s death led Pope and the families of other Kratom overdose victims to push the state of Georgia to regulate Kratom.

Right now, there are virtually no regulations at all, and the supplement can be found on shelves of convenience stores and gas stations all over Georgia.

State Rep. Rick Townsend, a Brunswick Republican, picked up the mantle and pushed it through two years later.

Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, placing strict regulations on Kratom.

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“It doesn’t bring back their loved ones,” Townsend said. “This is going to regulate Kratom. It’s going to require you to be 21 years of age and put it behind the counter in a locked case. But more importantly, it’ll require proper labeling, plus, there’s going to be penalties attached.”

Channel 2 Action News has done several reports on the potential dangers of Kratom, as well as stories on those who support its continued availability.

Dana Pope stood by the governor as he signed her bill into law. She said she did it so her son’s life will have some meaning.

“It makes us feel that he didn’t die in vain and that he will make a difference in this world,” Dana Pope said. “If he saves one person who now can’t buy Kratom or puts the word out that Kratom can kill you, then it’s a good day.”

In a statement responding to the signing of the law, the American Kratom Association called on state lawmakers to “fix” the new law by making adjustments to the legislation.

“Representative Townsend strongly condemned the previously passed Kratom Consumer Protection Act because there was no assigned state agency to regulate kratom, and the AKA agreed with him on that,” commented Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow with the AKA. “But his bill as passed has no assigned state agency to regulate kratom – only making his top-dollar trial attorney campaign contributors richer at the expense of Georgia kratom businesses.”

The statement from the AKA said the only people who will benefit from the passage of House Bill 181 are “trial attorneys who want to sue kratom manufacturers and retailers for their own profit.”

The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

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