The Kratom Controversy: Nearly 2 Million Americans Are Using a Substance Banned in Multiple States

In Florida, where Trouville’s son died, a local investigation the year before his death revealed that nearly 600 people over the last decade had died of kratom-related overdoses. According to the addiction treatment network Sprout Health Group, six states, including Rhode Island, have outlawed the sale and use of kratom. That’s partly because kratom’s relative newness makes it undetectable in standard drug testing.

Protecting Californians from kratom

• It’s possible that a brick-and-mortar kratom shop will be able to provide test results for its kratom or some other benchmark to prove its quality, but it’s unlikely.
• In Suffolk, a vote on a potential ban was delayed in April.
• There has been discussion at the federal level about banning kratom, largely because of how concentrated compounds like 7-OH have such profound opioid effects.
• At issue is a psycho-active kratom component called 7-hydroxymitragynine or 7-OH.
• These types of products are here to stay, but we must ensure we continue to access them legally as the situation evolves.

This suggests that chronic kratom use is lowering people’s background pain tolerance. However, this study was conducted on chronic kratom users, and their pain tolerance before they took their dose for that study was much lower compared to that of non-kratom users in other studies. A 2024 literature review concluded that there are no clinical trials evaluating the effects of kratom on chronic pain management. In 2016, in response to increasing calls to poison control centers, the Drug Enforcement Administration sought to ban kratom by making it a Schedule I drug. Since kratom products are not FDA-regulated, there is no uniformity to the products.

Green Vietnam Kratom

Check whether your state bans kratom outright, caps 7-OH concentrations, or has specific labeling requirements. At Real Botanicals, our 7-OH products use extraction methods to concentrate alkaloids while preserving their natural integrity. Some products on the market even contain fully synthetic 7-OH, which has been manufactured in a lab. Some manufacturers isolate 7-OH through extraction, creating products with alkaloid levels many times higher than those found in natural leaves.

This tracker is provided as a free public resource — link, quote, or embed it. California enforces a de-facto commercial ban via CDPH rule. A free public resource for journalists, advocates, consumers, and state representatives. “7-OH is not just ‘like’ an opioid … it is an opioid,” said Makary, describing the compound as 13 times more potent than morphine. From there, the Drug Enforcement Agency will conduct a review and determine whether or not 7-OH will become classified as an illicit drug. Timing, drying, and origin all shape how each strain feels.

• Lawmakers in the Tennessee House passed “Matthew Davenport’s Law” Tuesday, a measure that would ban the use, sale and distribution of kratom across the state.
• Kratom drinks can be approachable for beginners due to flavor and convenience, but it is still important to start with lower servings and observe how your body responds.Do capsules last longer than Kratom drinks?
• Oliver Grundmann, a clinical professor in the department of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida, has been studying kratom since 2016.
• Stick with transparent vendors that sell natural-leaf powder and capsules, publish lab testing, verify age (21+), and label products clearly.
• ChatGPT has never been publicly available in China, Hong Kong and Macau because OpenAI prevented users from these regions from accessing their site.

Kratom law named after Chattanooga man now headed to governor's desk

It comes in brightly colored cans resembling popular energy drinks, in capsules packaged like everyday Q Kratom vitamins and in sugar-coated gummies made to look like candy. In Tennessee, where Clarke spent his entire NBA career playing for the Grizzlies, kratom is sold openly in smoke shops and corner stores. In the same botanical family as coffee, kratom has been used for centuries in Southeast Asia. In a recent report, the FDA said it’s still concerned about kratom in general, but 7-OH’s heightened risks demand urgent action.