Mississippi senator works to restrict kratom

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) -This is a substance that’s highly addictive and there are a lot of families that have been ruined over this drug.” Says Senator Jeff Tate. “Last year I filed a bill that would schedule 1 kratom and I have intentions of this year filing a bill to either schedule 1 it or put some laws and regulations in the books in Mississippi regarding kratom.”

Kratom is a drug that comes from southeast Asia. It is related to the coffee plant and can relieve pain and increase alertness. It is currently banned in 6 states including Alabama. Kratom is currently legal in the magnolia state except for in the city of Columbus and Union County.

Tate says that right now we don’t have anything on the books in Mississippi.

“My 6-year-old daughter could walk in and buy it. And that’s wrong,” He says.

The website Scientific American estimates that 10 to 16 million Americans use kratom as an alternative to opioids. Some use it to treat pain but some use it to help them get off more dangerous “street drugs”.

“Kratom comes in a lot of different forms. It comes in the powder form and the leaf form I don’t know I’ve heard testimony that that is a medicine to them much like the medical marijuana debate that we are having in Mississippi right now,” says the Mississippi senator.

Like most drugs, there are plenty of people who use kratom responsibly. Others abuse the substance. Dr. Frederick Duggin is the CCO at rush health systems.

“Most people if they use too much kratom they can have all kinds of side effects including constipation hair lose erectile dysfunction, it can go as far as causing seizures, hallucinations, and cardiac arrest,” says Dr. Frederick Duggin, the CCO at Rush Health Systems.

The Centers For Disease Control found that kratom was a cause of death in nearly 100 people within 17 months. The victims in nearly all those overdose deaths had other drugs in their systems.

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