Last week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced it has seized $5 million worth of kratom and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) products, despite no law explicitly prohibiting kratom and 7-OH in the state.
Grant Boyken of CDPH told SFGATE the products were placed under embargo “pending further regulatory actions”. Boyken cited California’s Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law and referenced a statement by the Food and Drug Administration to justify the product seizures.
Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, CDPH appears to treat kratom / 7-OH as an unapproved food additive, “poisonous or deleterious substance,” or unpermitted drug/ingredient. These statutes give regulators broad power to block or seize substances that are unsafe or not properly authorized. But kratom has had a gray status in California: it hasn’t been explicitly regulated before, and state lawmakers have made statements that kratom is unregulated, and even attempted and failed several times to regulate kratom under state law. Because no specific kratom law is in place, CDPH’s interpretation is open to dispute.
Boyken’s reference to an FDA advisory in no way justified state action (as CDPH does not enforce federal laws), and could be a misinterpretation of the advisory. The advisory states that “There are no prescription or over-the-counter drug products containing kratom or its known alkaloids that are legally on the market in the U.S.”. However, as long as kratom is not marketed as a drug (using health claims), then it is legally sold in states like California that have not banned kratom or 7-OH.
The American Kratom Association (AKA) has responded to this action by calling an “emergency webinar” for this Sunday, October 12 at 9:30 pm ET “to brief advocates on immediate actions to push back on the California Department of Public Health’s move to declare kratom illegal and seize products.”
The 7-OH advocacy organization, 7-Hope Alliance, quickly released a statement on September 30 challenging CDPH’s action as “unlawful government overreach”. The group addressed another justification used for this action: Los Angeles County deaths supposedly caused by 7-OH:
Last month, Los Angeles County issued a press release linking three tragic deaths to 7-OH. Yet weeks later, the County has failed to produce evidence that 7-OH caused these deaths. The County’s own medical examiner reports show multiple substances, including excessive alcohol, and do not list 7-OH as the cause of death. Officials have also refused to publicly release toxicology levels or product packaging that could confirm what substances were involved.