Two University of Mississippi students were found dead over the weekend, one on campus and one off. Investigators say packaged kratom sold from a retail store was found at both scenes. They have not said it caused either death, and the autopsies have not been scheduled.
The story is drawing national attention to a substance most people have never heard of and can buy at a gas station in most of the country. Massachusetts is one of the few places where that is no longer true. Kratom has been a Schedule I controlled substance here since August 28, and the order that put it there expires next summer.
What investigators have actually said
The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office says it is conducting two separate death investigations and has not confirmed evidence that the deaths are connected. Lafayette County Metro Narcotics reported that packaged kratom sold from a retail store was found in both investigations. The sheriff’s office has also said it has not confirmed information indicating that kratom or any other substance contributed to either death.
The county coroner says autopsies are in the process of being scheduled. Ole Miss police are working with state and local agencies. How the students died is not known.
That is the whole of it, and it is worth stating plainly, because the gap between “found at the scene” and “cause of death” is where most coverage of a story like this goes wrong. Toxicology takes weeks.
Kratom is already illegal in Massachusetts
On August 13, 2026, Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein signed an order designating kratom a Schedule I controlled substance under G.L. c. 94C, § 2A, at the direction of Governor Healey. After the statute’s fourteen-day notice period, it took effect August 28.
Schedule I is the most restrictive classification Massachusetts has. It is where heroin sits. The order reaches possession, not only sale, which means a Massachusetts resident holding a bag of kratom powder bought lawfully on August 27 was in possession of a controlled substance on August 28.
We set out the order, the penalties and what remains unsettled in our full explainer on the ban.
The part that matters now: it expires
Section 2A is an emergency power. It lets the commissioner place a substance in Schedule I temporarily, on findings that include that scheduling is “necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety” and necessary “for the preservation of the public health, safety or general welfare.” Before declaring an imminent hazard, the commissioner must consider “the substance’s actual or relative potential for abuse and its history and current patterns of abuse.”
Temporarily means what it says. The order can remain in effect for up to one year, which puts its outer limit in August 2027. It is an emergency regulation, not a statute. To make the ban permanent, the Legislature has to pass a law or the department has to complete a formal rulemaking.
So Massachusetts is currently in a window. If nothing happens, kratom becomes legal again here by operation of the calendar, not by anyone deciding it should be.
A cluster of deaths in another state is exactly the kind of event that moves a legislature, and it is also exactly the kind of event that turns out, on toxicology, to have involved something else entirely. Both happen.
What kratom is, and what “7-OH” is
Kratom is a Southeast Asian plant whose leaves contain mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, compounds that act on opioid receptors and can produce both opioid-like and stimulant-like effects depending on dose. It has been sold for years in smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores as powder, capsules, extracts and drinks, marketed for energy, pain and opioid withdrawal.
The federal government has never scheduled it. That matters for the Mississippi investigation, because a product bought legally from a retail store is not evidence of anything illegal by itself.
The newer and more potent end of the market is concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, sold as “7-OH.” Those products are what pushed several states to act in 2025 and 2026, and they are chemically a long way from the leaf powder the word “kratom” still suggests to most people. Reporting that a package of kratom was found says nothing about which end of that range it was.
What this means if you are in Massachusetts
- Possessing it is a crime right now. Not a regulatory violation. A Schedule I controlled substance offense under chapter 94C.
- Retailers have been pulling product. Cities and towns have used the order to clear shelves since late August.
- Buying it online and having it shipped here does not change the analysis. The order applies to possession in Massachusetts regardless of where the sale occurred.
- Anyone using kratom to manage opioid withdrawal should talk to a clinician rather than simply stop. That is a medical question, not a legal one, but the ban created it.
What to watch
Three things, in order of how much they would actually change.
First, the toxicology in Mississippi. Until the coroner reports, every causal claim about those two deaths is speculation, including the ones made confidently.
Second, whether the Massachusetts Legislature takes up a permanent kratom bill before the emergency order lapses. A national story with student deaths in it is the sort of thing that produces a filed bill within weeks.
Third, whether the Department of Public Health begins formal rulemaking, which is the quieter path to the same result and does not require the Legislature to act at all.
Is kratom legal in Massachusetts?
No. It has been a Schedule I controlled substance since August 28, 2026, by order of the Commissioner of Public Health under G.L. c. 94C, § 2A. The order reaches possession as well as sale.
When does the Massachusetts kratom ban expire?
The emergency scheduling order can remain in effect for up to one year from when it took effect, putting its outer limit in August 2027. Making the ban permanent requires legislation or a formal rulemaking.
Did kratom kill the two Ole Miss students?
That is not known. The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office says it has not confirmed that kratom or any other substance contributed to either death, and autopsies are still being scheduled.
Is kratom illegal under federal law?
No. The federal government has never scheduled kratom, which is why it is sold openly in retail stores in most states.
What is 7-OH?
Concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, a far more potent product than traditional leaf powder. Those concentrates are what prompted several states to act in 2025 and 2026.
What happens if I still have kratom at home?
Possession of a Schedule I substance in Massachusetts is a criminal offense. Anyone in that position should speak with a lawyer rather than rely on a website.
Details of the Mississippi investigations from WCVB, September 23, 2026, reporting statements from Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office and the county coroner by way of sister station WAPT. The Massachusetts scheduling order, its August 13, 2026 signing, its August 28 effective date and its one-year outer limit as set out in our September 11, 2026 explainer, which was built from the order itself and from G.L. c. 94C, § 2A. No finding has been made that kratom caused either death in Mississippi. This is general information about Massachusetts law, not legal or medical advice.