Rensselaer County could join a growing number of New York counties seeking to ban the sale of kratom, a plant-derived substance with opioid-like effects that has become increasingly common in convenience stores and tobacco shops as reports of kratom-related overdoses have surged.
It’s not hard to find in Rensselaer County, legislator Bruce Patire said. “All you’ve got to do is see Hoosick Street; there’s kratom signs.”
The Hoosick Republican, a member of the County Legislature’s health committee, said he sponsored the county bill that would ban kratom sales after reviewing annual overdose statistics attributing several deaths to a cocktail of drugs, including kratom…