The more people become interested in banning 7-hydroxymitragynine, better-known as 7-OH, the more we’re going to see of the same propaganda tactic that’s used for vapes and novel synthetic drugs: Anything could be in there, so there’s no need to explain the threat too precisely.
“7-OH” refers to a synthetically concentrated, potent form of a compound found in kratom, and is considered an opioid by the Food and Drug Administration. In July the FDA recommended that 7-OH be banned under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, and in the wake of that announcement state attorneys general and local elected officials have become increasingly interested in implying it has a significant role in the overdose crisis and rates of substance use disorder.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has not yet scheduled 7-OH under the CSA, meaning possession is not federally banned. Sale and distribution are banned when it’s marketed as a food additive because the FDA hasn’t approved it as such, but in many states 7-OH products are still sold in gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores.
For example, on December 4, New Jersey introduced a bill that would classify 7-OH as a Schedule I substance under state law. A first-time conviction for sale or distribution could be punishable by up to 18 months in prison. For a second conviction, the maximum prison term would be five years; for subsequent convictions it would be 10 years. All of these would come with accompanying charges for violating the state’s consumer fraud act.
“[Consumers are] easily able to purchase products with concentrated levels of 7-OH online and in gas stations, corner stores and vape shops,” the bill states. “[M]any of these products contain levels of 7-OH that can be as additive [sic] as opioids.”
The consumer alert is technically about 7-OH, but also references kratom, synthetic opioids and “gas station” supplements somewhat interchangeably.
In a December 9 consumer alert, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stated that products containing 7-OH are “really dangerous and basically act like synthetic opioids,” and warned that she’s “already heard from parents whose kids have become addicted.” The problem, she explained, is that even though these products are being sold to minors, until law enforcement has “stronger tools” there’s little that can be done.
“In its current form, Arizona’s kratom law asks prosecutors to clear a high-bar just to prove a misdemeanor,” Mayes continued. “Most law enforcement agencies simply don’t have the labs, experts or budget to do that on a routine basis.”
Except they do, if the gist of the consumer alert is to be believed. Though Mayes’ doesn’t quite say so explicitly, her solution appears to be to working with lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session to reclassify certain misdemeanors—namely sale to minors—as felonies. Under Arizona’s current law, retailers who sell kratom to anyone under 18 can be charged with a class 2 misdemeanor, which for a first-time conviction carries maximum penalties of four months’ jail time, two years’ probation and a $750 fine. The “stronger tools” are felony charges, not forensic resources.
The consumer alert is technically focused on 7-OH, but also references kratom, synthetic opioids and “gas station” supplements somewhat interchangeably. That’s becoming the norm. As is borrowing a drug-war narrative from campaigns against vapes and fentanyl—as long as something can be linked to youth overdose, even without evidence linking it to youth overdose, then it can be used to add criminal penalties where there weren’t any before, or turn misdemeanors into felonies.
Tens of thousands of products containing or associated with 7-OH were seized in federal raids across Kansas City in early December.
The Arizona consumer alert closely resembles one issued by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr in November.
“We’re staring down the next wave of the opioid crisis, and we have to take action before it’s too late,” Carr stated. “These harmful and addictive drugs are sold like candy, and they’re putting children at risk. It’s unacceptable and it’s illegal, and there will be consequences for those who break our laws.”
Also in November, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway opened investigations into six alleged kratom distributors, mainly local smoke shops, on the same day that the Department of Justice and the Food and Drug Administration opened a civil forfeiture case against three Kansas City-area warehouses related to sale of 7-OH products. Tens of thousands of products were subsequently seized in federal raids across Kansas City in early December.
“We have seen numerous reports of harmful health consequences in consumers, including children, who have taken 7-OH products,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division stated December 2. “[W]e will take action against anyone participating in the illegal distribution of these products.”
On December 3, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas proposed Ordinance 251028, a ban on “gas station drugs”—products derived from kratom and 7-OH, but also hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 and Delta-9, synthetic cannabinoids (K2/spice), synthetic cathinones (bath salts), nitrous oxide, amanita mushrooms, tianeptine (the original “gas station heroin”), and “other chemical analogues designed to produce psychoactive or intoxicating effects.”
“Unregulated gas station drugs are … often just as dangerous as controlled substances and have no place on our shelves when they contribute to addiction, overdoses and neighborhood instability,” Lucas stated, “particularly impacting our children.”
Image (cropped) via Fairfax County, Virginia