Regulate.

According to some constitutional scholars, when the word was used in founding documents, it meant to keep regular — or well-functioning.

But to governments today, the word has a new meaning: to control.

We see it all the time in legislation. Whenever the word “regulate” is used, it’s meant to control access.

Regulate guns. Regulate drugs. Regulate food.

Whenever some new innovation in the market comes along, government busybodies are quick to want to regulate it.

Sometimes those regulations come from the request of established industry cartels to clamp down on the competition that threatens their monopolies, like in the cases of electronic cigarettes and ridesharing services Uber and Lyft.

Other times, it comes directly from legislators doing it in the name of safety, protecting the general welfare.

Such is the case with state Sen. Tom McInnis’ bill that would outlaw the herb kratom.

While McInnis, R-Richmond, said he just wanted to “start a conversation” about the plant, he added his fear that it could “be the next epidemic in our state,” comparing it to crack cocaine and crystal meth.

He’s also concerned about it being available over the counter and having no age restrictions.

A noble intention.

But as Christian author C.S. Lewis famously said, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”

This is one of the main areas where there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans: they both want to ban things they think are “bad.”

Democrats want to ban soft drinks and guns. Republicans want to ban pornography and drugs.

This is where they both run afoul of one of the key principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence: the pursuit of happiness.

We agree with Joshua Fulton of Coastline Kratom that use of the herb — which is by far less harmful than legal alcohol and tobacco — is a matter of personal choice.

If a free American adult wants to ingest something into his or her body, be it kratom or corn syrup, it’s an exercise of individual rights, not a public health issue.

If North Carolina follows the lead of a handful of other states, like Alabama, and bans the herb, there would be consequences.

Businesses like Coastline Kratom will simply move into other states where their product is still legal. North Carolina will miss out on tax revenue and cost some residents their jobs — which is what happened when the state banned sweepstakes parlors to protect its monopoly on gambling vis a vis the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Classifying kratom as a controlled substance would not stop its use, it would just make the market more dangerous, as we’ve seen time and time again with the prohibition of other substances. Not only is it dangerous for the buyers and sellers, it can also be dangerous for the officers who will have to enforce the law.

Prohibition, as seen with alcohol and marijuana, puts the control in the hands of the violent cartels and puts peaceful people in prison.

Just because 23 people have died with kratom in their system — some along with other illegal and prescription drugs — in the past six years is no reason for panic. According the N.C. Department of Justice, more than 1,000 North Carolinians die from prescription drug overdoses each year.

The Tar Heel State should follow the lead of the Peach State and leave it alone. There are higher priorities in North Carolina than a plant.