DOJ Targets Potent Kratom Concentrates Under Updated Emergency Scheduling Rules
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced updates to emergency scheduling actions targeting potent kratom-related substances found in products sold at some gas stations, tobacco shops, and convenience stores.
The changes follow recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and aim to distinguish concentrated or chemically enhanced products from natural kratom.
HHS recommended that two of the compounds– 7-OH and MGPI– be classified as Schedule I if either compound or a combination of both exceeds “1 milligram per gram in solid powders, encapsulated material, or other solid forms, or exceeds 1 milligram per milliliter in liquid preparations” or when their combined amount is less than 100 to 1.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will issue a new notice of intent covering 7-OH and MGPI. The agency had not yet issued a temporary scheduling order for 7-OH under the earlier process.
“Dangerous and addictive opioids do not belong behind convenience store counters,” said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Our nation’s children and communities deserve protection from harmful substances like 7-OH and other powerful synthetic drugs.”
Meanwhile, the DEA plans to reissue its Notice of Intent for MGM-15 and MGM-16 without changing its existing scheduling approach. Both substances were placed under Schedule I controls in August. Those controls will remain in effect during the new 30-day notice period.
“We listened to the public, followed the science, and developed a clear recommended threshold for temporary scheduling that targets concentrated 7-OH and MGPI without sweeping natural botanical kratom into Schedule I,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
