What is Kratom? The drug Brandon Clarke was arrested for possessing

One, is that we don't really understand what's all in that product, because it's been synthetically manipulated. “The 7-0H products become a very different beast from two safety standpoints. Over the past several years, the 7-0H marketed products have been produced with much higher 7-0H contents than Kratom leaves, often without the other alkaloids in it, all pressed into a pill form. Kratom products are found in smoke shops around the state. According to animal studies conducted by McCurdy and other UF researchers, certain compounds in Kratom may also be useful for treating opioid addiction, though no human trials have been performed. He said options are now available for customers looking for energizing effects at low doses, and those who want more opioid-like effects at higher doses.

Hepner started going three to four times each week and then began purchasing a kratom powder from a liquor store and stirring it into her tea. In 2024, Maizie Hepner, 24, started visiting a bar in Dubuque, Iowa that did not serve alcohol and instead offered beverages containing kava and kratom, psychoactive substances derived from plants. Treatment for problems related to kratom is available—and effective. Others have taken a patchwork approach, with several banning some of the drugs, but not all of them.

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The DEA sought to temporarily reclassify kratom as a schedule 1 substance in 2016, but reversed course following a backlash. In a letter published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of researchers called kratom an “emerging issue” and suggested that physicians consider asking patients about their kratom use, the same way they do about cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamines or heroin. Kratom and 7-OH may be marketed as herbal supplements, but they function like opioids — shaping how clinicians treat addiction.

There Are Many Different Strains Of Kratom

• The paper suggests that as of 2022, roughly 1.9 million people in the U.S. had used kratom, though the authors suggest that’s an underestimate.
• In 2024, poison control centers started tracking 7-OH, a synthetic kratom derivative.
• However, there are no clinical trials comparing kratom to methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone, the FDA-approved treatment options for opioid use disorder.
• “Anything like that that’s sold over the counter, unregulated and without the need for proper identification, in my eyes, I see that as a harm to the public good,” said FitzGerald.

The first is people with opioid use disorder who buy kratom either to tide them over until they can get more opiates or as an attempt to wean themselves off even harder stuff. “But I can tell you that there are a number of kratom products that are being sold right now that exceed the FDA regulations … for all of those heavy metals.” But given the overall lack of regulation, the packaging on many kratom products does not include information about dosing, the concentration of active compounds or the other ingredients mixed in.

Four groups of kratom users

“Because the partnership carried the league’s endorsement, some players understandably viewed that as a signal that the product had been appropriately vetted,” Jacobs said. As a last resort, he said he turned to an addiction treatment facility in October that utilizes Ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic used in other countries but illegal in the U.S. “They’re these little blue bottles that you find at gas stations,” said the former player, who asked not to be named in order to speak openly about his addiction. “It first came to my attention in dealing with local high school athletes that were using it for anxiety and pain control from soreness after practice,” Quigley said. News stations reported that drug paraphernalia was found at the scene.

The Texas Kratom Consumer Protection Act regulates kratom sales statewide. A new regulatory framework allowing kratom sales takes effect in April 2026. Both kratom legality by state and 7-OH legality vary widely.

McCurdy does support the emergency ban for now, but he wants to see further study into 7-0H, which could be banned nationally if it is federally scheduled as a Schedule 1 drug. Savchenko claims the push to ban the product at the state and federal level is being lobbied for by larger Kratom companies . She said she does not think 7-0H should be scheduled, but instead regulated like other emerging products, like hemp. The similarity to opioids is what Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier focused on when announcing the ban last week.

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. The AG’s office had sued the company in March, focusing in particular on concentrated 7-OH products it characterized as hazardous. If you ship to or live in Tennessee, plan accordingly before the July 1 effective date — easily the most consequential state-level kratom news of the month.

Kratom Extracts and TincturesKratom extracts and tinctures are highly concentrated liquid alkaloid preparations. Kratom ShotsKratom shots are concentrated liquid Q Kratom extracts sold in small bottles typically 10 ml to 60 ml. Brewing tea is a simple, controlled way to extract the alkaloids from Kratom powder or dried leaf into a drinkable liquid. The Different Types of Kratom DrinksThe liquid Kratom market now spans multiple product categories. Dosing ControlQuality drinks display alkaloid content per serving. With Kratom drinks, you can easily consume and mix them with your favorite juice, water, or any other liquid that you may find up to your taste.