WARREN (WWJ) -- Police in Metro Detroit are out with a warning for the public about what some are calling "gas station heroin."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia and consumption of its leaves can have opioid-like effects. Kratom is most often sold in pills, but can also be smoked.
Police say this drug — which is legal in the U.S. at this point — is a dangerous and growing concern in local communities.
Warren Police Lt. John Gajewski says kratom is easy for people to get their hands on, as it came be purchased online as well at smoke shops, gas stations and party stores.
"It is routinely found and sold in convenience stores, often marketed under the guise of, you know, a 'legal high' and energy boost," Gajewski said, in an interview with WWJ Newsradio 950's Luke Sloan. "And one of the things we're noticing in the packaging and marketing, you'll see a lot of the words that kind of dilute what the kratom is. You'll see it marketed as natural, safe."
Gajewski said kratom has a high risk of addiction, and could potentially kill you.
"Elevated levels can and have been shown to lead to respiratory depression, overdose, and even withdrawal type symptoms, more on a short-term or even long-term basis, consistent with opioid use," he said. "And, obviously, like anything, when mixed with another substance, the potential for another unfortunate but realistic fatality does exist."
Several local communities, including Warren and Clinton Township, are considering banning or restricting its sale by enacting a local ordinance.
"In the meantime, we're just trying to educate the public though that when you see this stuff marketed as natural or herbal, it has very, very severe consequences," Gajewski said.
While it has been praised by users and in the media as effective for alleviating depression and anxiety, and useful as substitute for prescription pills, kratom is not FDA approved.
Attempts so far to make kratom a controlled substance have been unsuccessful.
Read more about Kratom from the FDA at this link. For more details about associated side effects and health concerns, the Cleveland Clinic has information published here.