Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill into law Thursday to limit kratom purchases to people 21 and older and outlaw more potent forms of the herbal substance in Mississippi.
The law will take effect July 1.
House Bill 1077, authored by Rep. Lee Yancey, a Republican from Brandon, institutes fines for people under 21 who buy or possess kratom and retailers that sell it to them.
It also bans synthetic kratom extracts, or products that contain high concentrations of 7-hydroxymitragynine, one of the chemical components in kratom that binds to the same receptors in the brain as opioids. Kratom extracts are considered more dangerous than “pure” forms of the herbal substance because of their higher potency.
The bill protects children and makes kratom safer in Mississippi, but could have gone further to entirely ban the substance, said Yancey.
“There are some people who depend on it who are trying to get off of other opioids,” he said. “This is something that might be a step down from that and I would hope at some point they could get off of this as well.”
https://www.starherald.net/kratom-be-21-mississippi-680baa0415749