Governor DeWine Calls on Pharmacy Board to Schedule Kratom Compounds as Illegal Drugs

Governor DeWine Calls on Pharmacy Board to Schedule Kratom Compounds as Illegal Drugs

"It's a strange, insidious drug that imperceptibly steals your soul," Jason says. He asked that his last name be withheld out of fear that sharing his addiction struggles could damage his career. Company CEO Cameron Korehbandi has also released a statement applauding the FDA for going after 7-OH. FDA commissioner Martin Makary spoke alongside Kennedy while announcing their plan to initiate the process to have 7-OH scheduled as an illicit substance. "It comes from a little bit of that world − huntington blogs not from the illicit drug, underground, cartel world that's seen as much more seedy." A father says his addiction drove him $50,000 into debt and tanked his credit score into the 500s.

Is 7-OH the same as kratom?

The kratom leaf, native to Southeast Asia, has been the center of controversy nationally. That means that even if federal law allows kratom supplements like “feel free,” the company is able to comply with Utah regulations “by simply declining to sell feel free in Utah.” Botanic Tonic’s “feel free” tonic mixes kratom and kava root, which according to the new law, will be illegal to sell in Utah as it combines kratom with a “nonkratom” substance.

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• The powdered leaf is about 1% mitragynine and maybe, at most, 0.1% 7-OH.
• Recently, the FDA has proposed scheduling products containing 7-OH above a certain concentration, but the DEA has yet to act on this request.
• Kennedy and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced the FDA would begin pushing to schedule 7-OH as a controlled substance.
• Kratom is also set to disappear from shelves in a month, thanks to something called “Matthew Davenport’s Law.” The Chattanooga man’s family says he died of an overdose using kratom and many other substances.
• There are no known interactions between kratom and foods or drinks.
• Many clinicians manage kratom dependence similarly to dependence of other opioids, using combinations of medications and behavioral interventions.

USA TODAY spoke with more than 20 people who say they became severely addicted to kratom − a plant ingredient found in products sold at gas stations, liquor stores and smoke shops across the country by various companies. “You market kratom products for the treatment or cure of opioid addiction and withdrawal symptoms. "For years, opponents of kratom have attempted to portray natural kratom leaf as a public health threat," said Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy for the American Kratom Association (AKA), an association of kratom vendors. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s launching a federal crackdown on 7-OH — the synthetic byproduct of the kratom plant — it’s dangerous. The largest number of kratom bills that have been introduced this legislative session do not look to ban or schedule the substance, but instead add regulations for how kratom and kratom-related products can be made and sold in the state. Though the legislature is considering more permanent solutions, Ohio has enacted an emergency rule, expiring in June 2026, that bans synthetic kratom products.

Kratom bill passes that would prohibit sale of ‘gas-station heroin’ in New York

The ingredient is being used in products that are becoming increasingly available to purchase online and at smoke shops, the agency warned. Poison control centers in the U.S. received more than 3,400 reports about the use of kratom from 2014 to 2019, according to the Mayo Clinic. “Its availability is a cause for concern since Los Angeles residents might use kratom without a full understanding of its risks,” the statement read. Other states are working on legislation that would tighten kratom regulations that include testing, age restrictions and labeling. Some states, including Arizona, Minnesota and Texas, prohibit the sale of products with 7-OH to minors.

Kratom for Sale

• Certain chemicals in kratom, including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), have effects on the body.
• Opioids are molecules with diverse shapes and structures that modulate opioid receptors.
• Below you’ll find information on the questions you raised in your email along with links to third party studies on natural kratom leaf.
• While many say it’s highly effective in treating conditions like chronic pain, anxiety and opioid use disorders, kratom products can also have opioid-like characteristics and have been responsible for addiction and even death among Utahns.
• It’s easy to buy and increasingly popular, even as doctors and medical experts grow more concerned about its health impacts, addiction rates and deaths.
• The new NIH study means the government has come full circle on kratom’s therapeutic potential.

It was in a similar form that kratom first arrived in the U.S. in the early 2000s — as a powder made from the dried leaves that people could take with water, or brew into a tea. When addiction psychiatrist Corneliu Stanciu first started looking into kratom in 2013, it was, he said, “a very different landscape compared to now.” “Once they started concentrating it in these 7-OH products, it was really replicating a full opioid,” she said. Kratom is usually advertised as a safe herbal supplement that’s used as an energy booster, pain reliever and, crucially, an aid for quitting opioids. A new, purified compound from kratom called 7-hydroxymitragynine (also known as 7 hydroxy or 7-OH) is now being sold in pill form. In the U.S., kratom is legal in nearly all states and not federally regulated.

The use of kratom in any form has not been approved by the FDA but the agency is particularly scrutinizing 7-OH. An herbal supplement that’s marketed as a cure-all for chronic pain and sold in gas stations and smoke shops is getting banned in communities across Southern California and the nation. With the case now closed, the kratom will instead be destroyed.