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When I heard Florida had banned 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine), I felt blindsided. I take 7-OH to control the nerve pain from an old car accident. With it, I can work and care for my family. Without it, I’m back to pain that never lets up.

Toledo City Council is rushing to ban kratom. On behalf of people like me, I’m begging them not to. For many people, kratom and its derivatives, like 7-OH, are all that’s keeping us from falling back into the nightmare of addiction and pain.

7-OH drug ban is hasty

A concentrated byproduct of kratom that is sold in smoke shops throughout the state, 7-OH has not led to any confirmed deaths. There is no documented surge in Florida ER visits or poison control reports attributed to 7-OH. Those are the facts. Yet, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier just invoked an “emergency” schedule to ban it (“‘Highly addictive’ smoke shop product banned in Florida,” Aug. 14). I see this as a manufactured panic.

I spent 10 years hooked on heroin after a severe back injury and years on prescription opioids. I overdosed more than once and failed at quitting more times than I can count. Two years ago I switched to 7-OH. I can now work, care for my family, and manage constant pain without the nausea and anxiety that came with leaf kratom. I have stayed sober.

Shaman Botanicals has issued a formal response to the FDA’s recent warning letter on its 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) products, backed by reports from leading researchers at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, UCLA, and other institutions. The company argues that current scientific evidence supports the safety of 7-OH, directly countering FDA’s claims. Experts consulted—including those previously cited by FDA—stress that 7-OH should not be considered a public health crisis and that available data shows no evidence of overdose deaths, respiratory depression, or widespread dependence.

The Food and Drug Administration wants the Drug Enforcement Agency to outlaw 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a natural compound from the kratom plant used to manage chronic pain and other conditions. But the move wouldn’t just be misguided; it would destroy lives.

For me and thousands of other Americans, this is about whether we’re allowed to live without constant and debilitating pain.

Drug policy is an easy thing to get wrong and a difficult thing to get right. Most drug policy experts agree that total prohibition has failed, but there is little consensus on what might actually work. Drug policy often happens in the ivory towers of government and academia, which can lead to a gap between official rules and street reality—the best example being alcohol remaining legal while less harmful drugs are banned.

Tampa, FL — The Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) today responded to the announcement
by Florida officials that 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a kratom-derived compound, is being emergency
scheduled. While the action is framed as a public health measure, the facts tell a different story.
“This decision ignores the science,” said Jeff Smith, National Policy Director for HART. “According to
the FDA’s database, there are zero confirmed deaths linked to 7-OH alone, and just eight adverse events
ever reported, even with over half a billion adult uses. If 7-OH were truly the threat being claimed, the
data would show it. It doesn’t.”

Matthew Bishop lives in New York City.

At 68, I’ve seen a lot of bad decisions made in the name of public health. Pain patients like me have watched access to safe and effective treatments shrink while stigma has grown. So when a state legislature takes a thoughtful approach, especially on something as misunderstood as kratom and 7-OH, it deserves recognition.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration are considering classifying 7-OH, a compound derived from the kratom plant, as a Schedule 1 controlled substance — effectively making it illegal at the federal level.

Last month, the FDA announced it was targeting the compound, which is a concentrated byproduct of the kratom plant known to relieve pain and cause feelings of euphoria, due to its “high potential for abuse.”