Ole Miss Student Deaths Raise Concerns About Potent Gas Station Drug

Two University of Mississippi students were found dead at separate locations Monday, with packaged kratom products recovered at both sites as authorities investigate the deaths, raising fresh concerns about kratom and its increasingly potent derivative 7-OH.

Lafayette County Metro Narcotics said Tuesday that it is conducting two separate death investigations and has not determined whether the deaths are connected, although packaged kratom purchased from a retail store was recovered during both investigations. It’s unclear whether kratom or any other substance contributed to either death.

The students have not been publicly identified, but the University of Mississippi confirmed that both victims were students and said the school was “heartbroken” by their deaths.

While the cause of the students’ deaths remains unknown, the presence of kratom at both locations is drawing renewed attention to concerns surrounding 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly known as 7-OH, a potent opioid-related compound derived from the kratom plant. While 7-OH occurs naturally in trace amounts in kratom, concentrated and synthetic versions have increasingly been sold in products marketed as “kratom,” including tablets, gummies, drink shots, powders, and other products commonly available at gas stations, convenience stores, smoke shops, and online.

The Food and Drug Administration has specifically warned consumers about concentrated 7-OH products. Last year, then-FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said he feared the substance could be the next opioid crisis.

“We can’t get caught flat-footed again,” he warned. “We got burned with fentanyl. We got burned with prescription drugs. We cannot get behind the eight ball again. This may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic. Concentrated, synthetic 7-OH may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.”

The federal government has also recently cracked down on concentrated 7-OH products. The Drug Enforcement Administration announced the move in July, and a separate order targeting three related 7-OH compounds took effect August 26. The crackdown targets concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products, not traditional kratom leaf.

Further, addiction-treatment providers say they are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking help for dependence on kratom and 7-OH. A September 2026 report from STAT found that addiction clinics are reporting a sharp increase in patients seeking treatment for kratom-related dependence, while clinicians say some patients are specifically struggling with 7-OH.

For now, investigators have not established what caused either Ole Miss student’s death, and there is no confirmed evidence that kratom or 7-OH played a role. The investigations remain ongoing.

Related: This Drug Is Sold in Your Gas Station. It May Trigger the ‘Fourth Wave’ Of The Opioid Crisis.

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