Ridgeland bans kratom from stores

RIDGELAND — Law enforcement will work with local business owners to remove an herbal substance known as kratom from their shelves following the passage of a new city ordinance.

The ordinance bans the distribution, purchase, possession or sale of “synthetic cocaine, other synthetic products, or kratom” in the city of Ridgeland.

Mayor Gene McGee said he believes the product to be “dangerous.”

“We need to get it off our shelves,” McGee said.

Police Chief Bryan Myers said kratom is present in about a dozen gas stations and convenience stores in town.

“I don’t think it is good for our kids,” Myers said.

The ordinance takes immediate effect, but McGee said RPD would work with store owners to remove the product from their shelves promptly.

Violators could face a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail and each day someone is not in. compliance with the ordinance would constitute a separate offense. McGee said that is up to the judge. McGee said this is the standard penalty for violating any of the ordinances of the city of Ridgeland and does not need to be spelled out in each new ordinance.

“We would prefer it all be removed,” McGee said.

Myers said the substance has already been outlawed in six states and 15 countries. He said about a dozen counties in Mississippi have already banned the substance, and a number of municipalities, including Gluckstadt, passed their kratom ban in December of 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is concerned that kratom, which affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine, appears to have properties that expose users to the risks of addiction, abuse, and dependence.

Kratom is a plant which grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

The ordinance says the FDA has issued “several warnings” regarding the substance and specifically cites a November 2017 advisory warning that consumers do not use kratom because “it appears to have properties that expose users to the risks of addiction, abuse, and dependence.”