Hart County Commissioners have passed the first reading of an amendment to the county alcohol ordinance banning the sale of certain non-regulated drug products. At their meeting Tuesday evening, Commissioners heard from County Attorney Kim Higginbotham, who has been working on a Kratom ordinance. Commissioners began discussing the need for an ordinance against unregulated synthetic drugs earlier this year and at their April meeting asked Higginbotham to begin researching similar ordinances around the state. Higginbotham said she modeled a proposed Hart County ordinance after one done by the City of Milton. According to County Commission Chair Marshall Sayer, it isn’t the Kratom plant that the county is going after – it’s the synthetic derivatives such as 7-OH and others. 7-OH stands for 7-hydroxymitragynine, which is a potent, opioid-acting compound derived from or chemically synthesized from the kratom plant. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said that concentrated forms of 7-OH are 13 times more potent than morphine, according to the FDA, and may lead to seizures, substance abuse disorder, withdrawal, overdose, and even death, and warned against the use and sale of the drug. 7-OH is commonly sold in the form of gummies, pills, liquid shots, edibles, and injections at gas station convenience stores, vape shops, and specialized smoke/novelty stores. While Georgia allows the sale of such products to adults over 21, local counties and municipalities are allowed to enforce…
*This content (including text, artwork, graphics, photography, and video) was provided by the third party(ies) as referenced above. Any rights or other content questions or inquiries should be directed to such third-party provider(s).
