A House bill that bans synthetic kratom products and limits the sale of kratom products to those 21 and up has breezed through both chambers of the Mississippi legislature unanimously – officially approved by the Senate Thursday.
The debate has intensified in Mississippi since 2022, when the first bill was introduced in the House that would restrict the sale of kratom. That bill died in the Senate, as did another House measure in 2023. The relatively split discourse is reflective of the national conversation on a delicate, nuanced issue.
House Bill 1077 appears to have appeased both sides of the debate for now. The bill was without a single dissenter, passing the House 115-0 and the Senate 51-0.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), “kratom” commonly refers to an herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects. The substance, officially categorized as a supplement by the FDA, exploded in popularity in the U.S. from 2011 to 2017, with an estimated 15 million American users as of 2020.
Commonly referred to as “opioid-adjacent,” many have clamored for regulation of the substance, citing its addictive nature and proximity to illegal narcotics such as heroin and fentanyl. Others say it’s a safe, life-saving substance for those struggling with addiction to harder narcotics or dealing with chronic pain.
Dr. Katherine Pannel, medical director for Right Track Medical Group in Oxford, believes proponents of kratom aren’t telling the whole story.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about kratom out there,” Pannel said. “If you look on the American Kratom Association’s website, they tout it as a safe, all-natural alternative for energy and pain control, but they don’t tell you all the hidden dangers.”
As Dr. Pannel pointed to, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) have established that kratom has “opioid-like” effects, triggering the same brain receptors as drugs like fentanyl and heroin.
Both agencies say that kratom has a stimulant effect at