What is kratom?
It’s a substance derived from a plant grown in Southeast Asia, which in small doses acts as a stimulant or a tool to manage anxiety. In higher doses it can act as a sedative with opioid properties.
Highly concentrated forms of kratom are now commonly available as capsules, powders, liquid shots and gummies (marketed as natural mood boosters and energy supplements) available at vape shops and convenience stores – leading to the term “gas station drugs.” Adding to the confusion is that kratom is legal under federal law (and not defined as a controlled substance) and legal in Texas with specific restrictions.
Ruth Ann Rigby, Black Horse Health’s new Chief Strategy Officer, is well familiar with kratom, one of a handful of substances she calls “drugs hiding in plain sight.” A Certified Recovery Specialist and Crisis Navigator with extensive experience at some of the nation’s top addiction and recovery centers, Rigby has co-authored a report on the dangers of substances “that are sitting on the counter next to the beef jerky and in the cooler next to the energy drinks.”
In low doses, kratom can offer a caffeine-like buzz but also can produce opioid-like effects which may explain its use among people attempting to manage opioid dependence. What makes kratom dangerous is its 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine), present in less than 2 percent of the plant’s raw leaves.
“Manufacturers figured out how to pull it out, concentrate it, and make it in a lab,” Rigby writes. “Now it’s sold in tablets and gummies that are many, many times stronger than the plant itself. This is not a plant anymore. This is a concentrated opioid in a colorful package.”
She is sounding the alarm over the use of kratom by a younger demographic, which also is experimenting with “whippets” (huffing nitrous oxide cartridges), energy drink “speedballing” (when combined with kratom), tianeptine (sold as Zaza, Neptune’s Fix and Tatianaa), Delta-8 THC (often marketed as “legal weed”), and vape pens (which can be refilled with THC oil). Rigby calls them all “gas station heroin” – products that are sending people “to the emergency room, to jail, and to funeral homes.”
In the case of the two Ole Miss student deaths, federal authorities recently charged a Mississippi store clerk and his son with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Investigators linked products found at the scenes of both deaths to purchases made at two stores near the Ole Miss campus.
The Mississippi case sheds new light on the alarming increase in the use of substances like kratom which many still don’t recognize. Rigby, open about her own recovery journey, invites the public – especially parents and friends of young people – to learn more about kratom and its use which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states has surged dramatically in 2025.
If you or a loved one is struggling, Black Horse Health can help. The residential treatment facility specializes in substance use disorders, chronic pain, trauma, process addiction, and co-occurring mental health treatment and recovery.
