Amid the ongoing heroin and opiate epidemic killing millions of Americans, lawmakers in Alabama are cracking down on plants.
Kratom, a herbal substance historically known to treat opiate withdrawal, is now outlawed in six states. On Tuesday, Robert Bentley signed Senate Bill 226 making the sale and possession of the drug illegal.
Merchants in the state were given a Thursday deadline to dispose of products containing the plant-based drug, which is typically sold in pill, liquid and powder stores at retailers.
"Some store owners are calling in wanting law enforcement to come take possession of this drug because their distributors are not wanting to pick them up," the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said in a statement to ABC 33/40. "These store owners are losing large amounts of money due to this, but at least they are turning it in and getting it off the shelves so kids cannot get a hold of it."
However, some dispute just how lethal the drug actually is. Compared to the number of recorded opioid overdoses (28,647), deaths directly related to kratom are seldom reported.
“Direct kratom overdoses from the life-threatening respiratory depression that usually occurs with opioid overdoses have not been reported,” Oliver Grundmann, a clinical professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida, told VICE.
Grundmann reviewed the research on the drug for the International Journal of Legal Medicine, finding that there are no standard screening techniques to trace mitragynine and its metabolites, the drug’s compounds. “The growing concern of the abuse potential of kratom requires careful evaluation of its benefits and potential toxicities.”
