The next addiction crisis in Jacksonville isn’t coming from a drug dealer. It’s coming from your corner gas station.
What was once sought out as a “natural” substitute for alcohol and prescription painkillers, is now putting people in hospitals — or killing them altogether. Kratom first surfaced in the early 2000s as a type of self-treatment for opioid withdrawal symptoms, pain and mental health conditions.
It is a plant from Southeast Asia that has been used for centuries by farmers and laborers for energy and pain relief, long before it ever reached American shores. Its popularity took off in 2015 due to its potential therapeutic benefits as Americans grew mistrusting of prescription opioids…