WHAT:<\/strong> Press conference: How law enforcement and media misinformed the public about the products in the Ole Miss investigations; the difference between natural kratom and synthetic products sold under the kratom name; why accurate information and sound science \u2014 not sensationalized, knee-jerk reaction \u2014 must guide what happens next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHO:<\/strong> Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy, American Kratom Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mississippi natural kratom consumers, who will speak to their own experience and to what the public warnings meant for them<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHEN:<\/strong> Wednesday, September 30, 2026 WHERE:<\/strong> Lafayette County Sheriff Building LIVESTREAM AKA YouTube Live:<\/strong> youtube.com\/@americankratomassociation<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members of the media unable to attend in person may submit questions prior via the email below<\/p>\n\n\n\n RSVP \/ MEDIA Mac Haddow, press@americankratom.org, +1 571-294-5978<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speakers will be available for one-on-one interviews following the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. For centuries, people there have consumed its leaves directly, brewed them as a tea, or concentrated that tea into an extract. Natural kratom leaf has a long record of use and is under active federal study for its harm-reduction potential in opioid and alcohol use disorders: the National Institutes of Health has funded research into kratom\u2019s principal alkaloid, mitragynine, as a potential treatment for opioid use disorder, and Purdue University researchers are studying kratom alkaloids for alcohol use disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the last several years, bad actors have begun synthesizing novel opioid compounds \u2014 including chemically manipulated 7-OH and, now, MGM-15 and MGM-16 \u2014 and deliberately packaging and selling them under the kratom name. These products do not share natural kratom\u2019s alkaloid profile, its pharmacology, or its safety history. Federal regulators at FDA, HHS, DOJ, and DEA have recognized that distinction. Public warnings that erase it are dangerous to public health, because they warn people about the wrong thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AKA\u2019s position is that a product may be called \u201ckratom,\u201d \u201cnatural kratom,\u201d or a \u201cproduct containing kratom\u201d only if it meets all of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 It contains no synthetic or semi-synthetic compounds of any kind;<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 It retains the alkaloid profile found in the natural leaf, with no concentration or enrichment of any minor alkaloid; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Its alkaloid profile contains at least 100 parts mitragynine to 1 part 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MP), combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A product that fails any one of these tests is not kratom, whatever its label says, and should not be reported as kratom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Identify the product by name \u2014 \u201cSmax\u201d Pseudo-DHM tablets, marketed as an MGM-15 product \u2014 rather than the generic term \u201ckratom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Where prior coverage described the products as \u201ckratom,\u201d update or correct that coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Distinguish natural kratom leaf from synthetic and chemically manipulated products sold under the kratom name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Wait for the toxicology findings before reporting any substance as the cause of either death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CORRECTION FOR THE RECORD: The Products Reportedly Recovered in the Ole Miss Death Investigations Were Not Natural Kratom<\/p>\n\n\n\n American Kratom Association to hold Oxford press conference Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 10 am CST on the misidentification of \u201cSmax\u201d Pseudo-DHM tablets as \u201ckratom,\u201d the need for accurate public information, and the scientific process that must follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Kratom Association is a consumer advocacy organization committed to protecting access to safe, natural kratom leaf products and advancing science-based consumer protection standards. AKA supports age restrictions, accurate labeling, contaminant testing, good manufacturing practices, and strong enforcement against adulterated, mislabeled, synthetic, semi-synthetic, concentrated, fortified, or chemically manipulated products falsely marketed as kratom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OXFORD, Miss. \u2014 The American Kratom Association (AKA) is asking every news organization covering the deaths of two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":166270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10397,19],"tags":[35833,30717,5,7067,4,655],"class_list":["post-166269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-local-news","tag-american-kratom-association","tag-kratom","tag-mississippi","tag-ole-miss","tag-oxford","tag-university-of-mississippi"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/kratom-AdobeStock_523823216.jpg?fit=1100%2C625&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166271,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166269\/revisions\/166271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
10:00 am Central Standard Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n
711 Jackson Avenue East
Oxford, Mississippi 38655<\/p>\n\n\n\nNATURAL KRATOM IS NOT \u201cSYNTHETIC KRATOM\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
WHAT AKA IS ASKING OF THE MEDIA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
About the American Kratom Association<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\")
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