PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Stores in Plymouth Township have about a month to take kratom off their shelves after the township board gave final approval to a ban on selling the substance and its stronger synthetic versions.
Penalties scale with the violation. A seller faces civil fines from $1,000 to $7,500 under the new rule, the most serious cases can draw a penalty as high as $25,000, and a business that keeps selling after repeated violations can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Retailers get 30 days to clear their stock before penalties start. The ban also covers concentrated forms such as 7-OH, the potent derivative that is sometimes called gas station heroin.
The vote finished work the Board of Trustees began earlier this month, when members unanimously advanced the proposal and set the final reading for Oct. 27. Police Chief James Knittel pushed for the change, warning that the plant-based product, which mimics the effects of opioids, is easy for teenagers and college students to buy at smoke shops and gas stations.
Knittel told the board his department had handled two local cases in which kratom was mixed with alcohol or another drug. Township Clerk Kim Gaedeke said protecting young people was the board’s top concern.
Plymouth Township joins other Metro Detroit communities that have passed their own limits, while bills aimed at statewide kratom sales remain pending in the Michigan Legislature.
Section: More Plymouth MI crime news
Filed under: Plymouth MI Public Safety News
