{"id":859837,"date":"2026-09-25T05:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859837\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T05:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:46:20","slug":"what-is-kratom-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-supplement-banned-in-arkansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859837\/","title":{"rendered":"What is kratom? What you need to know about the supplement banned in Arkansas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) &#8211; Kratom is sold over the counter in Mississippi but is banned in Arkansas, and doctors say its risks deserve a second look after two students at the University of Mississippi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kait8.com\/2026\/09\/22\/two-ole-miss-students-found-dead-investigation-underway\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.kait8.com\/2026\/09\/22\/two-ole-miss-students-found-dead-investigation-underway\/\">were found dead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Authorities in Mississippi say they have not confirmed a link between kratom and the deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Kratom is a drug derived from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia. However, the U.S. version of the drug \u2014 often in a pill or capsule form \u2014 is much more potent, since it\u2019s derived from the juices and extract of the leaves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Dr. Shane Speights, dean of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University, said the lack of federal regulation can have real consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cAnd unfortunately, there was no decision reached, which means that from a federal standpoint, it\u2019s not regulated at all,\u201d Speights said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">That decision spans back to 2016, when the federal government failed to come to a consensus about restrictions concerning kratom sales. Now, that responsibility falls to the states, which led to neighboring states having different policies concerning the drug.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cBut unfortunately, we know it doesn\u2019t stop at the border,\u201d Speights said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Speights said kratom, by itself and especially at high doses, can be deadly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cBut at higher dosages, unfortunately, it can cause respiratory depression and cardiovascular collapse, which means you stop breathing or your heart stops functioning correctly,\u201d Speights said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The pyschoactive drug acts on the brain\u2019s opioid and stimulant receptors. It can keep people awake and, at high doses, create a high.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Food and Drug Administration estimates about 1.7 million Americans age 12 and older used kratom in 2021. Speights said calls to Poison Control about the supplement have been rising year after year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Speights said the biggest danger comes when people mix kratom with other drugs to chase a stronger high.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cAnd largely, the biggest number of overdoses and calls to poison control are kratom being mixed with other substances to try to enhance delivery of the medication, trying to increase the euphoria, trying to increase the high \u2014 sometimes with devastating effects,\u201d Speights said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Speights said the best way to stay safe is to avoid kratom altogether or, at the very least, talk to a doctor before taking any similar supplement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">To report a typo or correction, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kait8.com\/page\/tips\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 KAIT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) &#8211; Kratom is sold over the counter in Mississippi but is banned in Arkansas, and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[89188,2605,97,28259,243,65051,362974,276],"class_list":["post-859837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-arkansas-state","tag-drugs","tag-health","tag-jonesboro","tag-medication","tag-narcotics","tag-nyitcom","tag-supplement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}