Gov. Mike DeWine, fresh off his pursuit of curtailing the sales of intoxicating hemp in the state, is now looking to ban all forms of synthetic kratom and schedule it as an illegal drug.
The governor announced the new aim as an emergency rule request made to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. The state had recently scrutinized 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, which is available for sale at smoke shops and gas stations.
DeWine doesn’t want to stop at synthetic. Backed by data from the state health department, which has attributed “more than 200 unintentional overdose deaths” to kratom in the past five years, the governor is considering a possible a ban on all kratom in the near future…