Kratom advocates want to set record straight after Ole Miss student deaths
By Richard Bourne
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OXFORD, Mississippi (WAPT) — Advocates for Kratom want to set the record straight when it comes to the substance following the deaths of two Ole Miss students.
A representative of the American Kratom Association spoke in front of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office in Oxford Wednesday.
Law enforcement originally said that kratom was found at each scene of the students’ deaths last week. They now say there was packaging associated with kratom-related products.
The American Kratom Association wants the public to be very clear on the difference.
“We’ve heard this media frenzy for the past two weeks about kratom was associated with these tragic deaths here at Ole Miss University, and we find out now it’s not. What that product is is a federally controlled, as of the third week in August, synthetic opioid that is illegal federally,” the AKA representative said.
Experts say when used correctly and responsibly, kratom can assist in pain relief, mood enhancement and opioid withdrawal.
On Aug. 26, 2026, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily placed three synthetic opioid compounds into Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act: Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MGPI), MGM-15 (dihydro-7-hydroxymitragynine) and MGM-16 (9-fluoro-dihydro-7-hydroxymitragynine).
Lafayette County Metro Narcotics said investigators are still waiting on official autopsy and toxicology findings from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office to determine how Aidan Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, CO, and Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta, GA, died.
Lafayette County Metro Narcotics is urging the Mississippi Legislature “to address synthetic kratom-related products with the urgency this public safety issue demands.”
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