Overview

• Attorney General James Uthmeier issued an emergency rule on August 13 classifying 7-hydroxymitragynine at or above 1 percent concentration as a Schedule I controlled substance effective immediately.
• Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson’s office has begun seizing noncompliant 7-OH products from smoke shops, vape shops and gas stations under the new emergency rule.
• The FDA and Department of Health and Human Services recommended federal scheduling of 7-OH in July, prompting a DEA rulemaking process that remains active.
• Advocacy groups such as the 7-HOPE alliance and Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust dispute the need for the ban, pointing to zero confirmed 7-OH–only deaths in FDA data and preparing legal and legislative challenges.
• Officials warn that isolated 7-OH concentrates act on opioid receptors, posing high addiction and overdose risks compared with whole kratom leaf.