American Kratom Association Files Formal Complaint with Georgia House Speaker Over Chairman Rick Townsend’s Alleged Bias in Kratom Study Committee

BRUNSWICK, GA, August 21, 2026 (EZ Newswire) -- The American Kratom Association (AKA) today announced that it has filed a formal complaint with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns requesting his immediate intervention in Chairman Rick Townsend’s administration of the House of Representative's Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Youth Exposure to Kratom and Retail Available Substances.

The six-page complaint alleges that Chairman Townsend has failed to provide Georgia legislators and the public with a fair and balanced examination of the controversial kratom issue and instead has used his control over witnesses, agendas and public testimony to build a record overwhelmingly weighted toward his longstanding effort to ban kratom in Georgia.

“A Blue-Ribbon Study Committee is supposed to study an issue before reaching a conclusion. Chairman Townsend appears to have reached his conclusion years ago and is now constructing the Committee record around it,” said Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy for the American Kratom Association. “That is not an impartial legislative inquiry. It has fatally compromised the credibility of this Committee.”

Townsend's Record Matters: Three Years of Attempts to Ban Kratom

Representative Townsend has introduced legislation to fully ban kratom products in three successive legislative sessions. Each effort failed to advance in the General Assembly.

The AKA complaint argues that Chairman Townsend’s history makes the need for scrupulous fairness particularly important.

“Representative Townsend is entitled to advocate for a kratom ban,” Haddow said. “What he is not entitled to do is use the authority of a Blue-Ribbon Study Committee to create the appearance of an objective investigation while controlling the witness list and depriving legislators of meaningful exposure to evidence that challenges his preferred outcome.”

Townsend Rejected Stronger Enforcement While Complaining Georgia Wasn't Enforcing the Law 

The complaint also challenges Chairman Townsend’s repeated criticism that Georgia’s existing Kratom Consumer Protection Act lacks adequate enforcement.

The AKA agrees that enforcement needs to be strengthened.

But when the AKA proposed specific solutions during consideration of Townsend’s legislation — including mandatory product testing paid for by manufacturers; a publicly accessible state registry identifying products authorized for sale; stronger authority to remove noncompliant products; and registration fees and an excise tax dedicated to funding enforcement — Townsend repeatedly rejected those proposals.

“You cannot credibly complain that a law isn’t being adequately enforced while rejecting the tools and funding that would allow regulators to enforce it,” Haddow said. “If protecting Georgia’s children and consumers is really the objective, enforce tough standards against bad actors. Don’t use enforcement failures as a pretext to ban responsible products and criminalize consumers.”

A Blue-Ribbon Committee Cannot Become a Taxpayer-Funded Political Campaign

The AKA’s complaint asks Speaker Burns to intervene before additional hearings are conducted and before the Committee produces recommendations that could become the basis for legislation affecting hundreds of thousands of Georgia consumers.

“Chairman Townsend’s longstanding advocacy for prohibition makes fairness more important, not less,” Haddow said. “Instead, his administration of these hearings has created the appearance that taxpayer resources and the prestige of the Georgia House are being used to advance the same anti-kratom political agenda he has unsuccessfully pursued through legislation.”

“The credibility of this Committee has now been fatally damaged,” Haddow continued. “Georgia taxpayers should not be paying for a proceeding whose outcome appears to have been decided before all sides have even been allowed to present their evidence.”

The American Kratom Association’s formal complaint was submitted to Speaker Jon Burns on August 21, 2026.

About American Kratom Association (AKA)

The American Kratom Association is a consumer advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Americans to safely use natural kratom products. The AKA supports federal and state enforcement actions targeting chemically manipulated 7-OH products and advocates for the Kratom Consumer Protection Act — including product testing, labeling standards, and age restrictions — in states across the country. For more information, visit www.americankratom.org and learn more at kratomanswers.org.

Disclaimer

The American Kratom Association (AKA) is a 501(c)(4) consumer advocacy organization. This press release is intended solely for informational purposes regarding legislative and public policy matters. Statements made by the AKA have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Natural kratom products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The AKA advocates for age restrictions, manufacturing standards, and legislative oversight through the Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA).

Media Contact

Senior Fellow on Public Policy
press@americankratom.org
+1 571-294-5978