Kratom crackdown in Lowndes County

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s a drug that you may not have heard of, but it could soon be banned in Lowndes County.

Kratom is not illegal, but some are working hard to get the drug banned.

“It’s devastating substance and its completely changed my life in one year’s time. It has changed every dream, every hope, and everything I saw my future being,” said Lowndes County resident, Angela Jourdan.

Jourdan’s marriage was affected by Kratom and she is determined to get the drug banned from Lowndes County.

“Well Kratom has been listed as a drug of concern by the DEA, right now it is legal to sell across the counter, but what we’re trying to do is provide information to the board of supervisors here in Lowndes County so they know what this product does and how addicting it can be,” said Coordinator of the Methamphetamine Field Lt. Eddie Hawkins.

Kratom is already banned in Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas. Mississippi and Louisiana are both looking at legislation to ban the substance this year.

EDITORS NOTE: Tennessee is listed as a state that has banned Kratom on a government website.   WCBI has learned that Tennessee reversed its ban on All natural Kratom and that version of Kratom is legal in Tennessee.  Chemical and lab created versions remain illegal in Tennessee.

“Walking the down the street in Caledonia, going for a walk with my dog, you can look in the ditch and as you walk a quarter-mile stretch, you can look and see the evidence,” said Jourdan.

“This product has no regulation, no quality control so we’re not even sure what’s in this substance that’s being sold across the counter. It’s highly addictive and a lot of people were using this stuff to supplement the  that they’re addicted to from the epidemic here in Lowndes county, said Hawkins.

Spokesman Glenn Lautzenhiser talked to county leaders about the research he’s done on the hallucinogen.

He wants Kratom banned from being sold in stores throughout the county.

“I would’ve liked to have seen the ban today,I would’ve liked to see the end of it today. going forward going through a public forum,I would love to see both sides of it just because I’ve done so much research that I know the facts well enough to know that there are people out there that support it and they think have their reasons for it. I look forward to the public forum coming through and ultimately I would like to see the ban here in Lowndes County, and even further than that moving forward, I would like to see all the counties in this area ban it.”

Supervisors agreed to study the matter.

Columbus councilmen are expected to consider the same measure at their meeting Tuesday night.

Here is more information about Kratom from the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/kratom