Lowndes County Supervisors Vote to Ban Kratom

LOWNDES CO, Miss. (WCBI)- First, it was a city issue, now the county is stepping in.

Supervisors are closer to getting the drug Kratom out of local convenience stores.

At Friday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting, county leaders unanimously passed the Kratom ban.

The new law will go into effect on April 1st. Before then, the county will air an ad on TV, to let the public know.

The Lowndes Community Foundation’s Crime and Addiction Task Force, says there have been 11 deaths in Mississippi, last year related to Kratom. One overdose death was recently reported in Columbus.

“People that are addicted to other drugs are now supplementing their addiction. They are trading in one addiction to this drug for another,” explained Eddie Hawkins, member of the Crime and Addiction Task Force.

If anyone within Lowndes County is caught with Kratom, they could face a misdeamenor charge with a $1,000 fine, or six months in jail.

“We’ve done a lot of research on this drug and it’s been banned in States all around us,” Hawkins said.

Now, counties and cities all around the viewing area are taking up the ban.

Kratom could previously be bought in convenience stores throughout the Friendly City, in pill, capsule or extract form.

Back in February the city of Columbus passed an ordinance, prohibiting the sale or use of Kratom in city limits.

A Statewide ban is expected.