ROCK HILL, S.C. — There’s a new push to crack down on kratom in South Carolina.
It’s advertised as a supplement to help relieve pain, but experts say that in high doses it can act like an opioid.
Channel 9’s South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry spoke with one lawmaker Friday morning who said he supports getting tougher on kratom.
House Bill 46-36 would make kratom a Schedule 1 drug. That means it would be illegal in South Carolina and could no longer be sold over-the-counter in smoke shops and gas stations.
This morning... I talked to a local man who says he hopes the bill will also do away with kratom-related drugs like 7-OH.
He says he developed an addiction to 7-OH and calls it just as addictive as fentanyl.
“The only difference is it can’t kill you and the fact that it’s legal. I compare it pretty much straight to it,” he said. “The first time I took it, I nodded out just like with fentanyl – luckily, I wasn’t driving.”
>>Watch Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. for an inside look at the bill and how it could help people in our area.
(VIDEO >> 9 investigates Kratom: Natural herb or deadly drug?)