Prosecutors investigating the deaths of two University of Mississippi students have charged a shop clerk and her son with selling illegal kratom, the herbal substance found in both victims' systems. The charges mark the first criminal case filed in the deaths, which authorities have been investigating since the students were found dead in separate incidents.
The clerk worked at a store near the Oxford campus that sold the kratom, and her son is accused of supplying it, according to the charges. Kratom is derived from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree and is sold in capsules, powders, and teas. It is legal in Mississippi only for buyers 21 and older under a 2022 state law, and it cannot be sold as a drug or advertised for human consumption.
Kratom contains mitragynine, a compound that binds to the same brain receptors as opioids. At low doses it acts as a stimulant; at high doses it produces opioid-like sedation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned since 2016 that kratom carries risks of addiction, withdrawal, and respiratory depression, and has not approved it for any medical use.
The two students died in separate incidents, and toxicology results confirmed kratom in their systems, prosecutors said. Authorities have not released the students' names or the dates of their deaths. The case is being handled in Lafayette County, where Oxford is located.
Mississippi lawmakers moved to regulate kratom after a wave of reports about the substance appearing in gas stations and smoke shops. The 2022 law made it illegal to sell kratom to anyone under 21 and required retailers to keep it behind the counter. Selling to a minor is a misdemeanor; selling an adulterated or mislabeled product can be charged as a felony.
Prosecutors have not said whether the kratom sold in this case was tainted with other substances or mislabeled. The clerk and her son have not entered pleas. Court records do not yet list an attorney for either defendant.
The FDA has seized shipments of kratom at ports and issued import alerts against several suppliers. The agency reported that between 2014 and 2019 it received hundreds of calls to poison control centers involving kratom, including cases requiring hospitalization. Deaths linked solely to kratom are rare; most fatal cases involve kratom combined with other drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ole Miss officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The university has not announced any changes to campus policies in response to the deaths.
