Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen plan to consider enacting regulations against kratom, the herbal substance sold as an energy booster, mood lifter and pain reliever.
Gibson pointed to one Natchez store “with a huge kratom banner just out front, and that should not be. There are other cities that have enacted bans on kratom. Natchez needs to join that list.”
Meeting Tuesday, the mayor and city aldermen indicated they’ll start developing measures against the sale of kratom in Natchez. This comes after two University of Mississippi students died last month from possible kratom overdoses.
Eleven states have banned kratom, according to The Associated Press. Others, including Mississippi, have regulated it — in part by requiring people to be 21 or older to buy it. The city of Oxford, where the University of Mississippi is located, has implemented its own kratom ban.
Proponents say that in its pure, ground-leaf form, kratom is a safe, natural herbal supplement that can help manage pain, anxiety and depression and ease the effects of opioid withdrawal. They say the danger is from kratom derivatives, which are often synthetic and can be highly potent. In August, the DEA banned three kratom-related compounds, according to the AP.
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