Federal Comment Window On DEA's Proposed 7-OH Threshold Closes July 31

The public has until Friday to tell federal regulators where the line should fall between kratom leaf and concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine.

On July 6, 2026, the Drug Enforcement Administration published a notice of intent to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) above a specified threshold into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The same day, the Department of Health and Human Services opened a public docket asking for data on whether that threshold is set at the right level. Comments close July 31, 2026.

What The DEA Filed

The DEA's notice, filed under Docket No. DEA-1570 and signed by Administrator Terrance C. Cole, invokes the agency's temporary scheduling authority at 21 U.S.C. 811(h). That provision lets the agency place a substance in Schedule I on an expedited basis when it determines the action is necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety.

The notice covers 7-hydroxymitragynine along with, in the agency's words, "its isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, and ethers, whenever the existence of such isomers, esters, ethers, and salts is possible."

A companion proposed rule published the same day would temporarily schedule three related compounds that do not occur naturally in the kratom plant: mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16.

The Threshold, In Numbers

The proposal is unusual in that it is written around a concentration limit rather than a flat prohibition on a named substance. As described in the Federal Register filing, the threshold applies to botanical kratom material that "contains more than 0.050 percentage of 7-hydroxymitragynine on a dry weight basis."

For processed material — extracts, concentrates, processed edibles, or pressed pills, and material subjected to chemical, thermal, or other methods leading to chemical transformations — the filing sets the line at greater than 0.050 percent measured by weight/weight, weight/volume, or volume/volume, or greater than 1.00 milligram of 7-OH in the article.

In other words, the same compound is treated differently depending on how concentrated it is and how the material was made.

What The Notice Does Not Reach

The filing draws an explicit distinction between the alkaloid as it occurs in the plant and the alkaloid as it appears in concentrated products. The Federal Register text notes that 7-hydroxymitragynine "makes up less than two percent of the total alkaloid content or occurs in trace amount in M. speciosa."

Material falling below the specified threshold is not covered by the proposed order. On the agency's own numbers, that leaves conventional botanical kratom leaf outside the scope of this particular action — a point that has shaped how industry groups have responded.

What HHS Is Asking

The HHS request for information, filed under Docket No. HHS-OASH-2026-0232 and signed by Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine, does not ask whether 7-OH should be scheduled. It asks whether the proposed number is the right one.

The notice poses two questions to commenters. The first asks "whether any additional data exist that further support this or an alternative threshold level, and specifically, what concentration or quantity of 7-OH in a product constitutes an imminent hazard to public safety." The second asks "whether data exist supporting alternative measurement expressions for purposes of specifying the threshold level that is necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety."

Under the notice, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will forward submitted comments to the Attorney General for review.

Where Industry Groups Stand

The two largest kratom trade and advocacy organizations have both backed the scheduling action rather than opposing it — a reversal of the posture they took during the DEA's 2016 attempt to schedule kratom's primary alkaloids, which the agency withdrew that October.

The American Kratom Association, as reported by Kratom Science, said that "chemically manipulated 7-OH opioids are not kratom," characterizing concentrated products as distinct from natural leaf. The Global Kratom Coalition has likewise supported federal action against high-concentration 7-OH products while urging that regulation of natural leaf proceed separately.

That alignment is the central political fact of this rulemaking: the fight is not industry against regulators, but a dispute over where a number should sit.

What Happens After July 31

The DEA's filing states that a temporary scheduling order "will not be issued before August 5, 2026." If issued, the order takes effect on the date it is published in the Federal Register and remains in effect for two years, with a possible extension of an additional year while permanent scheduling proceedings run.

Comments may be submitted through the federal docket identified in the HHS notice. After the window closes, the timing of any order is at the agencies' discretion; the August 5 date is a floor, not a deadline.

The Kratom Council will report the outcome when an order is published.