Kratom has not been detected in evidence retrieved from Saddle Ridge Elementary and Middle School after five students were sent to the hospital due to what was originally suspected to be kratom-induced symptoms at the end of October, according to Steve Wilson, Walker County’s sheriff, who was investigating the matter.
“We just don’t know what the substance was they ingested,” Wilson said by phone. “The doctors at the hospital could not find any illegal drugs in their system at the hospital.”
The gummies that were found at the scene were tested at a lab managed by Dr. Christopher McCurdy at the University of Florida. McCurdy is an internationally recognized expert on Kratom, according to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s website. The substance is not tested at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Wilson said.
“Our lab at the GBI will not test kratom, so we had to go the independent route,” Wilson said.
The American Kratom Association reached out to the Walker County Sheriff’s office after reading news stories about the hospitalizations, Wilson said. The group aided the Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into the incident, paying for the lab test at the University of Florida, Wilson said.
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Both the American Kratom Association and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office learned about the test results Wednesday from McCurdy, said Mac Haddow, senior fellow in public policy for the American Kratom Association, by phone.
The evidence was put through a full drug screening, Haddow said, costing the American Kratom Association around $600-700. No other illicit substances were found in the gummies, Haddow said.
The symptoms the Saddle Ridge students experienced included severe nausea accompanied by uncontrollable vomiting and lethargy, Wilson said. One of the students was unconscious for a day and a half.
All students have since been released from the hospital, Wilson said.
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Kratom is a naturally occurring plant from Southeast Asia that can produce both stimulant effects at low doses and sedative effects at high doses, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The plant’s leaves are dried and then crushed into a powder to be taken in capsules or brewed into tea, Haddow said. Liquid extracts are also made to be drunk or smoked in electronic cigarettes.
Kratom can be processed to produce concentrated amounts of the chemical 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly referred to as 7-OH, Haddow said, an opioid-like substance stronger than morphine.
In a press release in July, the Food and Drug Administration recommended the DEA schedule 7-OH under the Controlled Substances Act, as the chemical can bind to opioid receptors, giving it the potential for abuse.
Georgia and Tennessee have both taken steps to regulate natural kratom and ban 7-OH.
A law that took effect Jan. 1 in Georgia raised the legal age required to purchase kratom to 21, prohibits the sale of kratom for smoking purposes, limits the amount of 7-OH present to 1 milligram per serving and requires labels recommending serving sizes. Kratom must also be kept behind the counter where only employees have access to it.
In Tennessee, a bill passed in 2023 prohibits the sale of synthetic kratom, namely concentrated amounts of 7-OH, and, like Georgia, raises the legal age required to purchase to 21.
There is little enforcement of either state’s regulations, Haddow said by phone.
Contact northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at iperez@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6710.