Mississippi Kratom and 7-OH Injury Lawyer

Injured or Lost a Loved One After Using Kratom or a “7-OH” Product in Mississippi?

Kratom is sold in Mississippi gas stations, vape shops and convenience stores as a powder, capsule, drink or tablet. The natural leaf has been used for years, but a new generation of products – concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine (“7-OH”) tablets and chemically altered compounds sold under names like “pseudoindoxyl,” “MGM-15” and “Pseudo-DHM” – act on the same receptors as opioids and have been linked to addiction, overdose and death. The Hamilton Law Firm represents Mississippi families harmed by these products from our office in Meridian, as part of our personal injury and wrongful death practice.

What Mississippi Law Now Says About Kratom

House Bill 1077, signed in April 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, drew a line between natural kratom leaf and manipulated products. Under the law, a retailer may not sell kratom to anyone under 21; products must be kept behind the counter; a lawful “kratom product” may not contain 7-OH above 1% of its total alkaloids or more than 0.5 mg per container; products containing synthesized kratom alkaloids or controlled substances may not be sold at all; and every product must carry a label identifying the manufacturer and listing its ingredients. Sellers must register with the Department of Revenue. Dozens of Mississippi cities and counties – including Oxford – have gone further and banned kratom locally. At the federal level, the FDA warned marketers of 7-OH products in 2025 and recommended that concentrated 7-OH be placed in Schedule I, and in 2026 the DEA moved to temporarily schedule 7-OH above a threshold along with related compounds such as mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Mississippi has no “dram shop” law for kratom, so a civil claim rests on ordinary tort principles – and those principles are strong:

  • Product liability. Under the Mississippi Products Liability Act, Miss. Code § 11-1-63, a manufacturer, designer or seller is liable for a product that is defectively designed, deviates from its own specifications, or fails to carry adequate warnings and instructions, if the defect made it unreasonably dangerous and caused the injury. A tablet with no accurate dosing information, no warning of opioid-like effects, and a mislabeled or undisclosed synthetic ingredient raises each of those theories.
  • Negligence and negligence per se of sellers. Mississippi generally protects a retailer who sells a sealed product without knowledge of a defect – but not one who knew or should have known the product was dangerous nor does it protect one engaged in unlawful selling of the product. Selling to a person under 21, selling a product over the 7-OH limit, selling a synthetic-alkaloid product, or selling without the required label are statutory violations under HB 1077. A seller who breaks those rules and injures the people the law was meant to protect may be held liable in negligence.
  • Wrongful death. When a product causes a death, the family’s claim proceeds under Mississippi’s wrongful death statute, Miss. Code § 11-7-13.
  • Punitive damages. Where a seller acted with gross negligence or reckless disregard for safety, Mississippi allows punitive damages, and the usual caps do not apply to a defendant convicted of a felony that caused the injury.

What To Do Now

  1. Keep the product, packaging, receipts and any photographs. Do not throw anything away.
  2. Write down where and when the product was purchased and who sold it.
  3. Preserve phone messages, bank and app records that show purchases.
  4. Request medical and, where applicable, autopsy and toxicology records.
  5. Contact us before speaking with any store, manufacturer or insurer.

Kratom Injury FAQs

Is natural kratom legal in Mississippi?
At the state level, yes, for adults 21 and over, subject to HB 1077’s limits – but many cities and counties have banned it, and a statewide ban has been proposed.

How long do I have to bring a claim?
Generally three years from the injury or death under Miss. Code § 15-1-49. Product and store evidence disappears quickly, so do not wait.

Can I sue the store, not just the manufacturer?
Often yes, particularly where the store sold an unlawful product, sold to a minor, or knew of the danger. Every case is reviewed personally by R. Kevin Hamilton. There is no fee unless we win. Contact us at (601) 693-5548.

Kratom is not the only unregulated opioid-like product sold over gas station counters in Mississippi. If you or a family member was harmed by tianeptine (sold as Zaza, Tianaa, Neptune’s Fix and similar “gas station heroin” products), see our Mississippi tianeptine injury lawyer page.