In an Oval Office press conference in his usual flair yesterday, President Donald Trump vowed to “approve” natural 7-OH:
“We’re looking very seriously at natural 7-OH and getting that approved, natural 7-OH. And we’ll take a look at that very strongly. I think us and everybody, we’re looking to see if we can do something there. A lot of people are asking for it. And thank you very much for the work on that.”
A welcome change from the federal government
This makes a stark contrast from July of last year, when Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called on the DEA to make 7-OH a Schedule One narcotic. Now, it seems their boss is taking a different track to oppose Prohibition of kratom alkaloids, and it’s a welcome sign.
There will be debates about what exactly Trump meant in his impromptu comments, but considering he singled out “natural 7-OH” rather than “natural kratom” is a big difference. This points to him thinking logically about protecting Americans from untested synthetics separate from 7-OH, including MGM-15 and MGM-16.
His comments also reveal that he is following through on his administration’s endorsement of harm reduction on all matters related to substance and drug policy, including his approach to nicotine alternatives.
Trump is absolutely correct
In 2016, the DEA tried to schedule kratom and was met with stiff resistance from grassroots organizers and patients. As I explained in my article for Florida Politics, the DEA relied on what researchers and patients argued was selective, low-quality evidence that ignored consistent data showing low rates of serious adverse events.
The federal government attempted to intervene in an evolving marketplace with the extreme lever of prohibition. This constituted an abuse of authority with real-world consequences for real people.
Fast forward to 2025, and RFK and Makary’s press conference on 7-OH used similar scare tactics and panic policy while obliterating any of the nuance or understanding of what happens when prohibition is used as a hammer rather than smart regulations.
Makary is on thin ice at FDA, as sources within the White House claim either he is already out the door or soon to face the music, and pressure has been mounting on RFK at the same time to deliver on the president’s agenda and forget the side quests.
The president speaks for the patients
Rather than fall for the headlines, it seems President Trump has done an excellent job of sussing out the truth from fiction, especially when it comes to the patients who rely on 7-OH as an alternative to traditional opioids. He has chosen to shun the narrative of “panic policy” for regulations grounded in science and fact.
The Headlines Are Wrong
The cases driving cable-news coverage that deplore 7-OH do not survive scrutiny. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reports never measured 7-OH concentration at autopsy, skipped internal examinations in one-third of decedents, ignored pre-existing medical history and have not been published in peer-reviewed literature.
One headline death was reclassified once a blood-alcohol level several times the legal limit turned up. Because of how the body metabolizes kratom, 7-OH appears in the system of every kratom user, alive or dead. That is a metabolic tautology, not a body count.
These are important distinctions that our regulatory bodies are supposed to take into account, and thus far have been negligent to do so. To see better leadership atop the federal government, namely in President Trump, is therefore a welcome sign.
What’s next?
While Trump’s words are a good starting point, the battle over smart rules for 7-OH is far from over. Many elements of the legacy kratom industry have attempted to demarcate their product from 7-OH and confuse state legislatures and some federal lawmakers, which has led to an equally harmful boomerang effect on their own products.
There are still state bans and restrictions to contend with, and the federal scheduling process is likely still on the way. Ideally, we can hope that officials in the administration are grappling with the president’s words and following his intentions by abandoning efforts to schedule 7-OH.
President Trump has already proven himself a leader on nicotine alternatives on harm reduction, and if his latest words ring true, then the same is happening with natural 7-OH.