Ole Miss deaths spark drug use conversation on college campuses
Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell addressed the continuing investigation into the deaths of two University of Mississippi students as concerns mount over the safety of the herbal supplement kratom. Tindell urged parents to have candid, direct conversations with their children about drug use.
According to court records, a clerk at an Oxford, Mississippi, vape shop told a confidential informant that “people were dying” from kratom products sold there. The records also show that one of the two Ole Miss students found dead had made purchases at the store.
Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, were found dead Sept. 21. Court documents state that both had similar packages of kratom or synthetic kratom in their possession. Officials said Hamilton “could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema,” a condition that can be consistent with a drug overdose. Strang was found “cold to the touch” when first responders reached his home near campus.
The packages recovered near both students were labeled “Smax, Pseudo-DHM” tablets. Court records describe the product as a “Kratom like substance at gas stations or tobacco shops” that is purchased for its “narcotic like effect.”
A split image shows Robert Strang and Aidan Hamilton in photographs provided by their families. (Strang family, Kathleen Hamilton/Facebook)
Hamilton made multiple purchases in September at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford, including one the day before he was found dead. Store workers Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Court documents do not state that the kratom found near Hamilton came from the store.
Court records say a confidential informant visited Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store and asked whether it sold “7 O Kratom based pills.” A clerk allegedly confirmed that it did, opened a drawer beneath the register and removed a package of kratom.
Mosleh allegedly warned the informant to “be quiet” about the pills and urged caution when taking them, saying that “people were dying from them.”
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Authorities say this package of Smax Pseudo-DHM tablets, a synthetic kratom-derived product, was found near Aidan Hamilton when paramedics arrived. (Court records)
Investigators seized more than 500 kratom units from the vape shop, along with THC cartridges, gummies, pre-rolls and other suspected THC products.
Hamilton’s roommate told officers that Hamilton frequently smoked marijuana but said he was not known to use hard drugs.
About an hour after Hamilton was found dead, police responded to a home near campus and discovered Strang. A package of “Smax, Pseudo-DHM” tablets was reportedly on his nightstand, alongside 20 to 30 nitrous oxide canisters, commonly called “whippets.” Strang’s roommates said he used the canisters daily and told investigators that he had watched football and taken a Xanax bar the day before his death.
Authorities say packages of synthetic kratom products, including Smax Pseudo-DHM and Smax Pseudo tablets, were found at the scene where Robert Strang was discovered dead. (Court records)
Officials said Strang purchased the synthetic kratom-derived product at a gas station roughly 30 minutes from Oxford.
Investigators have not determined what role, if any, kratom played in the deaths of Hamilton and Strang.
