Letter calls on President Trump and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz to follow through on legalizing natural 7-OH products.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) today led a coalition consumer advocates, free market organizations, drug policy reformers, and public policy leaders in sending a letter to President Donald Trump and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for the endorsement of smart regulations on 7-OH.
The letter thanks President Trump for his May 10 statement that his Administration is “looking very seriously at natural 7-OH” and working toward its approval.
Dear President Trump and Administrator Oz,
We write as a coalition of consumer advocates, free market organizations, drug policy reformers, and public policy leaders to thank President Trump for his May 10 statement that his Administration is “looking very seriously at natural 7-OH” and working toward its approval.
The President is right to take this issue seriously. Millions of Americans use natural 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, for pain management, harm reduction, and wellness. They deserve a policy based on science, safety, and consumer protection, not panic or prohibition.
The key distinction is simple: natural 7-OH is not the same as dangerous synthetic compounds. While all consumer products should be subject to responsible oversight, the available evidence does not support treating natural 7-OH like fentanyl, heroin, or other Schedule I narcotics.
The science is clear. 7-hydroxymitragynine occurs as a native alkaloid in the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa (kratom). Leading researchers at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and UCLA have consistently found that 7-OH products do not present the public health profile of a Schedule I narcotic, with no oral lethal dose (LD50) having been established in animal models. The FDA’s own adverse event data show roughly 40 reported incidents across well over one billion servings consumed, and no confirmed deaths attributable solely to naturally derived 7-OH has been documented.
That line is both scientifically sound and regulatorily workable. Natural, plant-derived products can be tested, labeled, age-restricted, and held to clear safety standards. Illicit compounds, contaminated products, false labeling, youth marketing, and bad actors should be met with aggressive enforcement.
A ban would move the country in the wrong direction. Prohibition does not eliminate demand. It drives it underground, pushing consumers into gray markets, where products are untested, unlabeled, and often more dangerous. That is already happening. Synthetic kratom products, MGM-15 and MGM-16, have entered the market as direct substitutes for natural 7-OH where bans have taken effect. A federal prohibition would only accelerate that trend and open the door to Chinese synthetic manufacturers, who have exploited precisely these market vacuums before, using the same gray-market import networks that flooded American communities with fentanyl.
The better answer is a clear adult-use regulatory framework for natural 7-OH. That framework should include strict age verification, product registration, licensing, clear labeling, independent testing, potency disclosure, contaminant limits, adverse-event reporting, and strong enforcement against dangerous synthetic analogs.
This approach would protect consumers, respect adult choice, and give regulators the tools to keep dangerous synthetic products out of American communities. Sweeping prohibition would do the opposite.
Thank you for your leadership and for recognizing that Americans deserve a policy based on evidence, safety, and freedom, not fear.
Letter Signatories
Consumer Choice Center, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, Students For Sensible Drug Policy, Moms for America Action, Moms for America, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, End It For Good
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About the Consumer Choice Center
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.