On July 1 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) put a temporary ban on the synthetic version of the addictive, psychoactive compounds called kratom, 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and put it in the same category as heroin and LSD which makes it illegal to buy or sell in the United States. This is considered a victory for public health. There has been a jump of more than 1,200% over the past decade in kratom-related calls to poison centers in the United States.
However, the “naturally” sourced version of the same kratom compound will remain legally available and more lucrative than ever. Producers of this natural version are celebrating the DEA actions as a victory, since synthetic producers had been gaining market share in recent years.
Federal health officials warn that both natural and synthetic versions of kratom represent similar risks, including addiction, seizures, overdose, liver damage, and “withdrawal symptoms characteristic of classical opioids.” Kevin Sabet, a drug policy expert and a leader of Smart Approach to Marijuana, warned that 7-OH and mitragynine, another compound found in kratom, are both lethal. Sabet is quoted in The New York Times this week, “Singling out 7-OH and stopping there is doing the bidding of the well-funded kratom lobbying groups who, for profit, mislead the public into thinking kratom is benign and 7-OH is its only harmful constituent.”
Trump Administration officials and donors are blatantly involved, including financially, in “natural’ kratom (derived from the leaves of the evergreen kratom tree, Mitagyna speciosa), as a beneficial “supplement.” They denounced synthetic kratom as “gas-station heroin,” while offering a pure version. This is in line with the Trump Administration backing psychedelics for mental illness, opposing the science of vaccines, and similar practices and superstitions.
