7-hydroxymitragynine: DEA proposes temporary Schedule I above a concentration threshold
On July 6, 2026, the Drug Enforcement Administration published a notice of intent to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitragynine into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, but only above a specified concentration threshold — and the Department of Health and Human Services opened a public docket the same day asking where that threshold should be set.
Nothing about 7-hydroxymitragynine's legal status has changed yet. This is a notice of intent: it announces that DEA plans to issue a temporary scheduling order, not the order itself [1]. The order it describes will not appear in the Federal Register before August 5, 2026, at the earliest [1]. Until it does, handling 7-hydroxymitragynine — in any form, at any concentration — is not a federal offense by reason of this notice.
The proposal is written around a threshold rather than a blanket ban. It would cover any botanical material of Mitragyna speciosa containing more than 0.050% 7-hydroxymitragynine on a dry weight basis, and any synthetic or processed article containing more than 0.050% by weight or volume — or more than 1.00 mg of the compound [1].
DEA adapted the 0.050% figure from a definition HHS supplied in a letter dated July 28, 2025 [1]. Separately, HHS told DEA on March 6, 2026, that no investigational or approved new drug application covers these substances, and that HHS has no objection to temporary placement [1].
Where that threshold should be set is what the docket opened on July 6 is for. HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health is asking whether data exist to support 0.050% specifically, whether a different threshold would be more defensible, and what concentration or quantity should count as an imminent hazard [2]. Comments were due by July 31, 2026 [2].
For now: 7-hydroxymitragynine's legal status has not moved [1]. What could move, and when, depends on an order that has not been published.
Comments
Sign in to join the conversation.
No comments yet.