A bill recently filed in the Tennessee Legislature by a coalition of 29 Republican lawmakers would make the possession, sale and manufacture of kratom a felony offense while mandating new testing requirements for suspected overdoses and neonatal abstinence syndrome cases.

House Bill 1647 and its companion Senate Bill 1655 would create a new criminal offense specifically targeting kratom, defined broadly to include any part of the mitragyna speciosa plant containing mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine, as well as extracts, derivatives and synthetically altered forms of its alkaloids. Under the proposal, simply possessing kratom would be classified as a Class D felony. Manufacturing, delivering or selling kratom would be a Class B felony, elevated to a Class A felony if the sale involves a minor by an adult who is at least two years older and aware of the minor’s age.

Beyond criminal penalties, the legislation would embed kratom into multiple areas of Tennessee law. County medical examiners would be required to test for kratom in any autopsy involving a suspected drug overdose. Physicians ordering toxicology tests for suspected overdoses or neonatal abstinence syndrome would also be required to include kratom screening. In addition, the state’s labor commissioner would be directed to formally add kratom to the definition of a drug for workplace purposes.

The measure would also remove existing statutory language that currently references kratom in a more limited context, replacing it with the new, far stricter framework. The legislation is formally titled “Matthew Davenport’s Law” and, if enacted, would take effect July 1, 2026.