Exclusive | Post probe reveals deadly, banned Kratom sold in NYC smoke shops and some contained gas station heroin

Deadly synthetic kratom is being sold in smoke shops across New York City, despite containing lethal compounds banned by federal laws, a Post investigation has found. Over a two week span, The Post visited 52 shops across the city and found eight stores — about 15% — peddling products containing two synthetics banned nationwide by the Drug Enforcement Administration in an August emergency order: mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, known as MGPI, or dihydro-7-hydroxy mitragynine, known as MGM-15.That emergency order classified those synthetics as federal Schedule I controlled substances, and anyone found selling them can face up to 20 years in prison.

Synthetic kratom products have come under increased scrutiny after authorities found an illegal form of the drug at the scenes of the suspected overdose deaths of University of Mississippi students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20.Two men have been charged with selling the narcotics to the students.One of their defense attorneys said in court Friday that one of the men died from a combined use of various substances, including cough syrup, and that the other man died from inhalation asphyxiation, WMC-TV reported.

A federal filing in the case says a toxicology report found mitragynine, MGM-15 and MGPI in the systems of both men, who died Sept.21 in separate incidents.And this week, Utah officials issued an urgent warning after four deaths were linked to a substance called “cat’s claw,” which contained “dangerous semi-synthetic kratom chemicals.”“When’s it going to end?” asked Kratom Danger Awareness founder Wendy Chamberlain, whose son Joseph Chamberlain, 38, died in his upstate New York home in 2020 from an accidental kratom overdose.Kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia, mimics the effects of stimulants and opioids, according to the Mayo Clinic.Small amounts of the drug can spark a surge in energy, while larger amounts act as a depressant or sedative.

Synthetic variants can be tens to hundreds time...