Overview

• Attorney General James Uthmeier issued an emergency rule classifying 7-hydroxymitragynine at concentrations of 1 percent or higher as a Schedule I substance, effective immediately.
• Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson warned retailers at vape shops, gas stations and smoke shops to remove 7-OH products or face imminent seizures and enforcement actions.
• FDA Commissioner Martin Makary joined the announcement and highlighted rising poison-control reports alongside studies showing 7-OH can be several times more potent than morphine.
• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is advancing a federal rule-making process to place concentrated 7-OH in Schedule I after an FDA and HHS recommendation in July.
• Industry and advocacy groups disputed the ban by citing zero confirmed deaths linked to 7-OH alone and urged third-party testing, standardized labeling and age restrictions instead of prohibition.