WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its intent to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a naturally occurring alkaloid found in the kratom plant, into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, invoking emergency powers that bypass the full scientific review Congress normally requires.
The Department of Health and Human Services simultaneously opened a public docket, but only on where to set the threshold, explicitly refusing comment on the science or safety of kratom-derived products themselves.
The Consumer Choice Center, a global consumer advocacy group, condemned the move as prohibition by shortcut.
“The government is putting a plant alkaloid used by millions of Americans in the same legal category as heroin, and it’s doing so through an emergency loophole,” said Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center. “Not only does this betray President Trump’s promise to “legalize natural 7-OH,” but it also uses a rushed emergency process that runs roughshod over Americans who rely on these products while using debunked science.”
Ossowski noted that HHS’s own request for information forbids comment on the substance’s actual risk profile. “They’re asking the public to help sharpen the blade, not to ask whether it should fall. That is not science. That is theater,” he added.
Millions of American consumers use kratom and 7-OH products to manage pain, ease opioid withdrawal or reduce their reliance on prescription painkillers. Schedule I status would criminalize those consumers overnight, freeze research into the compound’s therapeutic potential and hand the market to unregulated, untested street alternatives, the exact outcome drug policy is supposed to prevent.
“We’ve seen this movie before. The DEA tried to emergency-schedule kratom in 2016 and withdrew after overwhelming public and congressional backlash,” said Ossowski. “The answer then is the answer now: regulate it like adults. Set purity and labeling standards, impose age restrictions, keep out bad actors spiking products, and let researchers do their work. Harm reduction means meeting consumers where they are, not sending them to the illicit market.”
The Consumer Choice Center urges the DEA to withdraw the temporary order, and calls on HHS to open a full, transparent scientific review with a comment process that actually permits discussion of the evidence. Consumers deserve smart regulation grounded in science, not a two-year ban issued by press release.
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The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Brussels, Washington, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, Geneva, and more.
Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org.