What is kratom? FDA targets dangerous 7-OH products in nationwide crackdown

Tennessee’s ban under “Matthew Davenport’s Law” (HB 1649) takes effect July 1, 2026, prohibiting kratom statewide, including powder, capsules, and extracts. For ongoing coverage of regulatory developments like these, the latest kratom news is worth bookmarking. We will keep tracking this kratom news in next week’s Executive Summary. It is not a statewide kratom ban in Missouri unless the legislature, regulators, or courts act separately.

What are the most common side effects of kratom?

Many states have restrictions on kratom use, although these rules tend to be relatively simple and in line with regulations for other psychoactive substances. Some users report that they gain functional benefits from kratom, like pain relief and reducing anxiety. Nationally, the FDA is aware of cases in which expectant mothers have used kratom, causing their newborns to suffer from neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome at birth. “There Wi Doc is no accepted medical use for kratom in Ohio, and it is an imminent public health risk. These types of products are here to stay, but we must ensure we continue to access them legally as the situation evolves. States with 2% caps (Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Utah) effectively ban high-concentration 7-OH products.

FIND STORES SELLING KRATOM SPOT PRODUCTS

• When kratom was combined with other substances, such as illegal drugs or antidepressants, hospitalizations increased nearly 1,300%, from 40 to 549.
• Although only present in small amounts in the leaves of kratom, 7-OH is produced by the body as a byproduct of mitragynine, the primary psychoactive alkaloid in kratom.
• Davenport, a nurse practitioner, had never heard of kratom until it appeared in her son’s toxicology report.
• Before the deal, Jacobs said many players were unfamiliar with kratom, the current research surrounding it or state bans.
• And always check your own state’s status, since the legal map is shifting month to month.

Though several kratom bills were considered this session by the Florida legislature, their session ended in March without any of the pending bills being passed that would have maintained the status of 7-OH. Florida implemented their scheduling of 7-OH concentrated at a level of 1 percent by an August 2025 emergency order by the attorney general, not legislative action, and that ban is set to expire June 30, 2026. While most of the scheduling would categorize kratom or 7-OH in Schedule I, there are exceptions. These three buckets capture almost all the kratom-related bills that were under consideration in the 2025–26 state legislative sessions.

• The DEA proposed listing Kratom derivatives as Schedule 1 substances in 2016 but quickly rescinded this proposal, after pressure from industry, constituents, and legislators.
• Research on what kratom does to the body in the short- and long-term is still being done.
• After the last wave of the opioid epidemic, we cannot get caught flat-footed again,” Makary stated last month.

Kratom won’t show up on the standard 5-panel drug test that checks for marijuana (THC), cocaine, amphetamines, opioids, and phencyclidine (PCP). But it’s legal and available online and in many places in the U.S. So, you should discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist before taking kratom. Not much is known about what's in kratom, how it may affect a person in the short and long term, and whether it can be used as medicine. It involves taking a scoop of the kratom powder by mouth and drinking water immediately after.

Over time, users can build a tolerance and face withdrawal symptoms, such as insomnia, nausea, muscle pain, irritability and even involuntary jerky movements, according to American Addiction Centers. “It can be especially risky when mixed with other substances or used in high doses, like we have seen in the drink ‘Feel Free,’” Volpicelli noted. Several states — including Alabama, Rhode Island and Wisconsin — have banned its sale and possession outright. “Similar to a sedative at higher doses, it also provides pain relief and euphoria.”