BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Zachary is next on the list to ban kratom products in Louisiana.
Kratom, an herbal product from a tree in southeast Asia, has become quite prevalent in the United States. You can crush it, use it in tea, or take it as a supplement.
State Representative Gabe Firment and other lawmakers attempted to ban the product statewide but will now leave that up to city governments. Their fight against kratom is based on its opioid and stimulant-like effects.
“You know it’s becoming fairly widespread, and it’s also being abused and has proven to be quite dangerous,” Rep. Gabe Firment said.
Most recently, councilmembers in Zachary adopted an ordinance to ban the sale and possession of kratom products in that area.
“This doesn’t make any sense that they are going to criminalize people when this is a safe product when used responsibly,” Haddow said.