Policy · 2026-07-01
Consumer Choice Center Condemns DEA Emergency Scheduling of Kratom Alkaloid 7-OH
Source: Consumer Choice Center
Why it matters
Millions of Americans use kratom and 7-OH products for pain management and opioid withdrawal — Schedule I status would criminalize those consumers and eliminate the only legal access they currently have.
The big picture
The DEA invoked emergency powers under the Controlled Substances Act to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) into Schedule I — bypassing the full scientific review Congress normally requires. Critics argue this approach limits the public's ability to challenge the underlying science, since the HHS public comment period only asks about the threshold level, not whether scheduling is appropriate at all.
Key findings
- DEA invoked emergency scheduling authority to bypass full scientific review required by Congress
- HHS opened a 30-day public comment period, but restricted input solely to the 0.05% threshold level — not the science or safety of kratom products
- Scheduling would place 7-OH in the same legal category as heroin and LSD
- Millions of Americans use these products for pain, opioid withdrawal, and mental health support
- CCC warned that criminalization will push consumers toward unregulated street alternatives
- DEA attempted similar emergency scheduling of kratom in 2016 but withdrew after major public and congressional backlash
What they say
"The government is putting a plant alkaloid used by millions of Americans in the same legal category as heroin, and it's doing so through an emergency loophole. Not only does this betray President Trump's promise to legalize natural 7-OH, but it also uses a rushed emergency process that runs roughshod over Americans who rely on these products while using debunked science." — Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director, Consumer Choice Center
Bottom line
**The CCC argues that emergency scheduling of 7-OH bypasses scientific due process and will drive consumers toward unregulated illicit markets — the exact outcome harm-reduction policy is supposed to prevent.**