kratom advocacy

DEA Emergency Scheduling of Mitragynine-Pseudoindoxyl Could Ban Kratom Containing Trace Amounts of the Molecule

Notice #DEA-1571 (Federal Register Docket #2026-13581) intends to ban mitragynine pseudoindoxyl with no legal threshold that allows for naturally occurring trace amounts in drying kratom leaves. AKA asks comedian Joe Rogan for help. Two Notices of Intent related to kratom alkaloids were filed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on July 1, 2026. One, titled …

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Last Day to Comment on 7-OH Schedule I Placement; Hamilton Morris, Carl Hart Speak Out in Opposition

Tonight at 11:59 PM, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will close comments on the notice “Temporary Placement of 7-Hydroxymitragynine Above a Specified Threshold in Schedule I; Request for Information“. The notice asks for specific information and scientific evidence about the threshold of 7-OH that should be allowable in kratom products. However, many …

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Fallout of the Kansas and Tennessee Kratom Bans

When prohibition is enacted, the consequences rarely unfold in the neat, orderly way lawmakers imagine. Just two weeks underway, the July 1 kratom bans in Kansas and Tennessee offer a real‑time case study in how criminalization can destabilize entire communities overnight. In Kansas, the decision to classify kratom and 7‑hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as Schedule I substances …

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DEA Announces Temporary 7-OH Ban; Public Comment Period Underway

On July 6, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) published a notice in the Federal Register that it intends to place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. This is an emergency rule that would temporarily place covered 7-OH products in Schedule I for up to two years while the DEA …

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Brian Setzer’s Kratom Tonic Problem and the Fallout of Aggressive Marketing to Uninformed Consumers

Musician Brian Setzer of The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer Orchestra told Guitar Player that his comeback to the music business was hampered by a kratom dependency. “It started innocently enough,” says Setzer… “They advertise it as a safe tonic to give you energy, and it’s not. So that just aggravated the whole thing. I …

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Ohio Board of Pharmacy’s Controversial New Kratom Rules

In a ruling the American Kratom Association (AKA) called “brutal”, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy mandated that while natural dried leaf kratom will remain legal, the same kratom sold in capsules will be classified as Schedule I substances, along with kratom in liquid form. Major liquid extract brands that have been marketed in gas stations …

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Under Attack by Russia, Ukraine Devotes Resources to War on Kratom

Frequent large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine are still ongoing. On a single day, March 24, 2026, critical infrastructure in multiple Ukrainian cities was attacked with 948 Russian drones. This broke a previous record for most attacks in a 24-hour period. Most of the drones were shot down by Ukrainian missiles or were disrupted by electronic …

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FDA Study on Kratom Published

A long-awaited kratom clinical study conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The pilot study (defined as “a preliminary investigation designed to test the feasibility and design of a larger, more comprehensive study”) involved healthy adult participants who were administered an ascending dose of …

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Pike County is the Latest Illinois Locale to Ban Kratom

On Februrary 24, officials in Pike County, Illinois voted unanimously to ban the sale of kratom and criminalize citizens in possession of it. “I commend the local community and our state’s attorney for bringing it forward, just trying to get ahead of the situation,” said Pike County Board Chairwoman Reta Hoskin. This is the second …

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