FATAL CRASH IN RANKIN COUNTY FUELS THE FIRE OF KRATOM DEBATE IN MISSISSIPPI

Kratom policy in Mississippi has been stuck in limbo as opposing factions debate regulation vs. an outright ban. 

Earlier this year a fatal car crash in Rankin County was attributed to kratom, despite any actual evidence being presented. That came AFTER the Board of Supervisors for the county had already banned kratom. With the timing of the accident and the lack of follow-up, advocates for the plant are questioning whether this case is just the latest scare tactic in the playbook of kratom’s opponents.  

Mississippi’s attempt to answer the ‘kratom question’ has seen legislators propose opposing laws to either regulate or schedule the herb, with the two sides stuck at a standstill in recent years. The most recent attempt was House Bill 1594, a scaled-down attempt to keep kratom from being bought or possessed by anyone under 21 years of age. That bill was introduced in February and died in committee in March. 

Meanwhile in Rankin County, the accident that was linked to kratom occurred in January, and reports made their way to various local media outlets at the same time in April. 

The only issue is that there has been no additional information offered on this case or any formal proclamation of kratom’s involvement in this car crash. All that links kratom to the accident is a flurry of news reports citing law enforcement sources. Now, advocates are worried that this is a signal that law enforcement is putting its thumb on the scale to try and expand the prohibition of kratom to the state level. 

Details of the Accident

According to local media reports, a single-vehicle accident occurred at 7:33 a.m. on January 19, 2024. The driver died at the scene, and it was reported that the toxicology report indicated a “significant quantity of Mitragynine, the primary alkaloid found in kratom.” There was no information about other substances or results from that toxicology exam. Included in that media coverage was a claim that the Board of Supervisors banned kratom after the accident.  

In reality, Kratom was banned by the Board of Supervisors in December of 2022 at the encouragement of local law enforcement. The reasoning for such a measure was laid out in a variety of statements, beginning with: “Whereas, Rankin County law enforcement has encountered the presence of certain synthetic drugs in our community.” 

Kratom is derived from the leaves of a plant that grows naturally and has been used recreationally for hundreds of years in Southeast Asia. There is also a clause that applies the ordinance to “any Mitragyna specisose (sic) specific alkaloids, isomers, esters, ethers, salts and salts of isomers, and ethers.” That clause then lists the “active ingredients in kratom” but what follows DOES NOT include mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine… the two primary alkaloids of kratom products. 

What IS included in that list are a variety of synthetic alkaloids and additives that have been banned in other states. Previous attempts at kratom policy in Mississippi have included similar concerns over synthetic additives and advocates have supported laws that ban synthetics and other adulterants to kratom products. Instead, those bills were scrapped as opponents refused to settle on anything less than an outright ban on the plant. 

Loophole for Law Enforcement?

Another interesting addition to the ordinance in Rankin County is a clause unique to other kratom bans or proposed bans: Subsection A of the ordinance makes it illegal to sell, attempt to buy or possess kratom products; subsection C says that DOES NOT apply if a person is “acting at the direction of an authorized agent of law enforcement to enforce or ensure compliance with this law.” 

In simple terms, the law makes it illegal to buy, sell or possess kratom… unless the person doing so is an agent of law enforcement trying to buy kratom products. When compared to the list of ingredients specifically mentioned in the ordinance, advocates have voiced concerns that this is an attempt to catch bad actors in the kratom market to generate fines for local law enforcement. 

Beyond warnings from law enforcement, the Rankin County ordinance lists concerns from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and advisory warnings from 2017 that were part of the FDA’s attempt to ban kratom at the federal level. That attempt fell flat but is still used by local municipalities such as Rankin County in making kratom policy. 

The final piece of reasoning listed centered on an article from the Mayo Clinic, which is often cited by local lawmakers due to its prominence among Google search results. Mayo Clinic has not researched kratom, while the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) HAS conducted research on the plant and reached different conclusions. 

Each violation of the ordinance is punishable with a fine of up to $1000 and six months in the county jail. No information is available on the Rankin County Sheriff’s website about the ordinance banning kratom, or the January crash. There has been no formal statement by any member of law enforcement on the accident and there are currently no documents listed for 2024 under the  “News and Notes” category for the sheriff or county prosecutor.