'INDUSTRY TURF WAR' OR 'PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS'? FEDERAL PUSH TO REGULATE KRATOM FUELS DEBATE IN CALIFORNIA.

SACRAMENTO, California — For years, producers of kratom, a widely available, but controversial herbal supplement that proponents say can be a substitute for opioid painkillers, have been fighting with lawmakers around the country over how best to regulate their industry. Internal divisions between makers of products that use leaves of the kratom plant and those using newer, more potent derivatives have torpedoed legislative attempts in Sacramento and other state capitols.

Now, the federal government is getting involved. This week, the Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administrationtook initial steps toward classifying the derivative, 7-hydroxymitragynine, as a controlled substance. The designation would place restrictions on production, distribution and possession of the substance, which is referred to as 7-OH. The move comes in response to what public health officials say is an increase in 7-OH overdoses and emergency room visits, although reliable data has been hard to collect.

Washington’s efforts to assert control has spurred Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains to revisit her earlier attempt to regulate kratom in California. In a bill she authored this year, Bains, a physician trained in addiction medicine who is running for Congress, proposed banning sales to people under 21 and packaging aimed at enticing kids. It also would cap how much 7-OH could be in a product at levels akin to the plant’s natural levels.

While the legislation made it through the Assembly, it stalled out in the Senate. Faced with competing claims from the natural leaf and the derivative sides of the industry over the safety of the 7-OH products, lawmakers decided they needed more time to sort through the science and tabled the bill until next year.

“I wish we didn’t have to waste any more time,” Bains said.

Sold as pills, powders, teas and prepackaged drinks at vape shops and corner stores, kratom can act as a stimulant or a sedative depending on the dose. The federal government’s focus this week on 7-OH is a gift to the faction of the industry making natural leaf-based products, which previously had been the target of suspicion from drug enforcement and public health officials.

With the spotlight now on more potent products, the older generation is seizing on the opportunity to make the case that natural leaf products should be legitimized through regulations and 7-OH cordoned off as a separate more dangerous product.

“I'm elated that they have not only decided to take action on this issue before it's a tremendous disaster, but also that they've acknowledged the difference between kratom leaf and these synthetic derivatives,” said Matt Lowe, executive director of the Global Kratom Association. “Acknowledging that there is a place for leaf kratom in the market is a big step forward, and then showing nuance by going after what is seen as bad is a good step forward.”

Fundamentally, the old and the new producers share many goals. They want legitimacy, largely through regulations that will keep bad actors who sell adulterated products or market to kids out of the industry. They are in agreement as well on age restrictions, good manufacturing practices and consistent labeling on dosage and warnings.

What they can’t agree on is the definition of kratom.

To the old guard, 7-OH products are “gas station heroin” and should be restricted like a drug. The 7-OH manufacturers, meanwhile, dispute the notion that their products are opioids or resemble heroin. They see themselves as offering newer, better products that are enticing customers and leaving legacy brands behind.

The new scrutiny from the federal government offers an opportunity for manufacturers to make the case to lawmakers and regulators that their products are safe, said Jeff Smith, the national policy director for Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, an industry group for 7-OH producers.

“This is an industry turf war parading as a public health crisis,” Smith said. “The legacy manufacturers are bleeding market share.”

The two halves of the industry have been grappling not only in California but in states around the country, including New York, South Carolina, Missouri and Louisiana.

The outcomes have been mixed. The worst case scenario for both sides of the debate is what happened in Louisiana, when lawmakers decided to ban all products outright.

“If this [federal] action hadn’t happened, I’d be worried about what happens in the states next year, “ Lowe said. “The Louisiana situation is very, very easy to happen, but I think this is going to provide a lot more clarity and help us guide those conversations.”

In California, Bains’ is feeling empowered to go back after the 7-OH products.

“I would have loved to ban it, but that’s a federal thing,” she said.

Bains is scheduling an informational hearing in the legislature while she dusts her bill off and makes changes to get it in line with the new federal action.

2025-07-31T21:03:19Z