HHS adds recommendations for federal kratom regulation

The Department of Health and Human Services last week added its recommendations to have the DEA schedule synthetic kratom extracts, putting its support behind the push to regulate the substances (Source: “HHS endorses DEA move to schedule synthetic kratom extracts,” The Hill, Oct. 9).
 
In July, the DEA announced plans to temporarily schedule a psychoactive compound derived from kratom called 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and other related compounds as Schedule I, placing it in a category indicating no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
 
HHS Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Brian Christine, recommended the DEA use concentration- or ratio-based thresholds for determining how to schedule synthetically concentrated kratom extracts.
 
While 7-OH is naturally present in trace amounts in herbal kratom, a plant originating from Southeast Asia, products synthetically concentrating the compound in high amounts have proliferated, becoming readily available in gas stations or tobacco shops.