Federal prosecutors have charged a store clerk and his son with selling kratom that authorities believe is linked to the death of a University of Mississippi student, prosecutors announced Friday.
The U.S. attorney's office in Mississippi said authorities established a link between the kratom derivative found at the scene of the student's death and a local vape, tobacco and beer store.
A drug task force in Mississippi had urged people to avoid kratom, an herbal extract that acts as a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at high doses, after authorities found packages of the substance while investigating the deaths of two University of Mississippi students.
The bodies were found Sept. 21 in different locations, one on campus and the other off campus. Authorities said they had no evidence the deaths were connected but noted the kratom found at the scenes was sold at a retail store.
It's still not clear whether kratom contributed to either death, but federal prosecutors said both deaths appear consistent with drug overdoses. Two state agencies were working to expedite toxicology reports for the students, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement last week.
Over the past decade, U.S. health officials and states have increasingly scrutinized kratom, which is used in capsules, powders and liquids that are often sold in gas stations or smoke shops.
Kratom is legal at the federal level, but 11 states have banned it. Others, including Mississippi, have regulated it, in part by requiring people to be 21 or older to buy it. Both the city of Oxford and Lafayette County, where the University of Mississippi is located, have bans in place.