Alarm spreads before the science is settled, shaping policy in its wake.
Two Ole Miss students have died, and investigators recovered kratom packages at both locations. Toxicology results remain pending, and officials have not determined whether kratom played a role in either fatality. Yet media outlets have rushed to blame the fatalities on “kratom overdoses.”
A September 23 headline from KGW8 in Portland, Oregon, proclaimed “2 Ole Miss students found dead in suspected kratom overdose.” On the same day, WKYT in Lexington, Kentucky published a piece titled “Kratom concerns after deaths of Ole Miss students.” ABC News took a more cautious approach, noting, “Police investigating 2 Ole Miss students’ deaths after kratom found,” and adding that “School officials urged students not to speculate as the probe continues.” We do not yet know what caused the two young men’s deaths. But the haste to fault kratom demonstrates how anecdotal reports can harden into policy before solid evidence arrives.
The two students were later identified as Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20; they were found dead Monday in separate locations, one on campus and one off campus.
Lafayette County Metro Narcotics stated plainly that it has “no confirmed information” that kratom contributed to either death. The county coroner noted that toxicology studies can take up to two weeks to complete.
Reporters often note that these products are sold at gas stations, as if the point of sale would tell us something about danger. After all, gas stations also sell beer, soft drinks, cigarettes, acetaminophen, and caffeine.
For generations, kratom—derived from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa—has been used across Southeast Asia to help manage pain and fatigue. In the United States, many people use traditional kratom products as an alternative to prescription opioids or to ease opioid withdrawal. The main alkaloid in kratom is mitragynine, while 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a significantly more potent natural alkaloid, occurs only in trace amounts in the fresh leaf.
In recent years, manufacturers have marketed concentrated—and in some cases semi-synthetic—7-OH products, frequently sold separately through smoke shops, vape shops, convenience stores, and online retailers. Many users report that these products help them manage chronic pain, anxiety, and PTSD, or to avoid more dangerous opioids.
As with alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and prescription opioids, repeated use of kratom or concentrated 7-OH can lead to dependence. Yet fatal overdoses involving these products appear rare, and when kratom is present in overdose deaths, other drugs are usually involved. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported 233 kratom-associated deaths reported to poison centers from 2015 through 2025. Nearly four out of five of those cases involved multiple substances. Opioids were present in 62 percent, while benzodiazepines and stimulants appeared in 20 percent each and alcohol in 19 percent. The CDC explicitly cautions that it cannot determine which substance caused the clinical outcome or death. For broader context, approximately 887,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during that period, according to CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality data.
Nevertheless, lawmakers and some in the press continue to cite anecdotes about “kratom-associated” overdoses (the CDC has not yet separated kratom from 7-OH overdoses), fueling legislation aimed at banning 7-OH or kratom, even when toxicology reports later show that deaths involved multiple drugs. In August, The Wall Street Journal ran an extensive report containing such anecdotes.
The Journal reported that the CDC recorded more than 5,200 fatal overdoses from 2020 through 2024 in which kratom was detected. However, detection does not establish causation. The CDC’s overdose surveillance system distinguishes drugs detected in postmortem toxicology from those determined to have contributed to death—a crucial distinction given the prevalence of polysubstance use.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are rushing to ban 7-OH, kratom, or both. And the Drug Enforcement Administration announced this summer that it intends to temporarily classify 7-OH above a certain concentration threshold as Schedule I (“no currently accepted medical use, and a high potential for abuse”) under its schedule of controlled substances. A recent study by the University of Michigan and Texas State University finds that more people are using these products.
Banning kratom or concentrated 7-OH products will unlikely eliminate demand. Instead, it is likely to push the market underground, where consumers may be less confident about dosage or purity, or even whether the product matches the seller’s claim.
Policymakers could reasonably consider measures such as age restrictions or laws against driving while impaired, but criminalizing peaceful adults who choose to self-medicate neither respects individual liberty nor is it likely to make them safer.
