DEA Proposes Scheduling 7-OH as States Crack Down on Kratom — SkimNews
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- The Drug Enforcement Agency proposed in July to temporarily classify 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) above a certain potency threshold as Schedule I, while leaving milder natural kratom products outside federal scheduling; the public comment period closed Sept. 10 with nearly 36,000 submissions.
- Two University of Mississippi students died this month with kratom products found on scene, though authorities have not claimed kratom contributed to either death, intensifying pressure for federal action.
- The DEA has already moved three less common kratom-related synthetics into Schedule I without a threshold caveat and could keep the 7-OH rule in effect for up to two years, with a possible one-year extension for permanent scheduling.
- Around two dozen states have enacted some version of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, promoted by the American Kratom Association, but Shatterproof's Leah Kaufman called those protections 'so weak, they're not useful' and pointed to Utah and West Virginia as the strongest models.
- Utah restricts kratom sales to specially licensed tobacco retailers, requires accredited third-party lab testing, and earlier this year banned anything other than 'pure leaf kratom,' including potent 7-OH products.
- Massachusetts issued a temporary statewide ban on all kratom products in late August, but addiction clinician Myles Jen Kin said he had not seen the large uptick in 7-OH-related clinic admissions he had expected a few weeks later.
- Experts are split on the federal approach: harm reduction researcher Nabarun Dasgupta called the potency-threshold rule innovative, while others warned it could push dependent users into withdrawal or toward more dangerous substances.
Why it matters: With overdose deaths still high and two University of Mississippi student deaths this month involving kratom products, federal scheduling could restrict 7-OH nationwide for up to two years while the nearly 36,000 public comments are reviewed, directly affecting the roughly two dozen states that have already enacted their own Kratom Consumer Protection Acts and the dependent users those laws leave without a regulated supply.
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