Hong Kong takes a hard line on kratom, the ‘herbal heroin’, but banned substance still available, Post check shows
Hong Kong has outlawed kratom, a potentially addictive herbal substance, but checks by the Post have found it is still available in the city.
The Post first exposed the presence and potential effect of the substance, regarded by some as “legal heroin”, in a report in March last year.
At the time, anti-narcotics officials and medical experts were unaware of it and saw no urgency to outlaw it.
But a government advisory body on narcotics which studied the substance proposed the ban after a year of discussions.
Kratom, also known as ketum, is made from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree native to parts of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Thailand.
The leaves contain chemical compounds that induce stimulatory or sedative effects similar to those from opioid drugs, such as heroin and opium.
Read more at scmp.com.
