Michigan approves ban on antidepressant tianeptine sodium

Michigan's governor has signed what's been described by state police as the nation's first statewide ban on the antidepressant tianeptine sodium.

The office of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced Thursday that he signed the measure to classify the drug as a Schedule II controlled substance, placing it in the same highly restrictive category that cocaine and opiates fall under.

State police flagged the drug to a state lawmaker after a spate of gruesome overdoses in the Midland and Saginaw area in 2017.

Tianeptine sodium is an atypical antidepressant that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It is marketed as a supplement or research chemical through unregulated vendors but is often abused in high doses to simulate opioid-like highs.