Is 7-OH Banned? Federal and Arizona Law

No. As of October 14, 2026, 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine) is not a federally controlled substance. That day the Drug Enforcement Administration published a notice saying it intends to place 7-OH in Schedule I above a set threshold, and to move mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, already in Schedule I, to the same threshold. The DEA says the order will publish on or after November 13, 2026. Arizona already limits 7-OH in kratom products, though its law is narrower and harder to enforce than it looks.

Is 7-OH banned federally right now?

No. What exists today is a notice of intent: the DEA telling the public what it plans to do and starting a clock. It is not the ban itself.

What the October 14, 2026 notice would cover

The new notice follows a recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services. It would place 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I when either one alone, or the two combined, crosses a threshold measured in one of two ways:

• more than 1 milligram per gram in a powder, capsule, tablet or other solid, or more than 1 milligram per milliliter in a liquid; or
• a product in which the mass of mitragynine, the compound in kratom leaf that the body converts into 7-OH, is less than 100 times the mass of 7-OH, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, or the two combined.

The DEA says the temporary scheduling order "will be published in the Federal Register on or after November 13, 2026." If the order publishes, it takes effect that same day, with no phase-in period, and lasts two years, with a possible one-year extension while permanent scheduling is completed. Until that order appears, nothing has been scheduled under this notice.

One sentence in the notice is worth reading twice: "neither HHS nor DEA has made a finding that these substances are safe to use at below-threshold levels." A product that ends up under the line has not been cleared. It has only been left outside Schedule I.

What happened to the July 2026 proposal

The DEA published an earlier notice of intent on 7-OH in July 2026, built on an HHS threshold that the October notice describes as lower. No order followed it. It was not the first time: in August 2016 the DEA published a notice of intent to place mitragynine and 7-OH, kratom's two main active compounds, in Schedule I, and withdrew it about six weeks later without issuing an order. The October 14 notice says the DEA is withdrawing that July notice in a separate document in the same issue of the Federal Register. Any threshold figure you see quoted from the July notice is no longer the proposal on the table.

What is already in Schedule I

On August 26, 2026, the DEA placed three related compounds, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16, in Schedule I by temporary order. The DEA describes them as opioids chemically synthesized from mitragynine or 7-OH, sold online and in gas stations, smoke shops and corner stores. They are controlled today. The DEA also reports that products sold as 7-OH may contain mitragynine pseudoindoxyl.

The October notices do not loosen anything today. The August order stays in effect until it expires on August 26, 2028 (unless extended), or until the new threshold order publishes and the August order is withdrawn, whichever comes first. Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl would then be controlled above the same threshold as 7-OH, and a separate October 14 notice of intent says a new order will keep MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I "without change."

What the threshold is aimed at

The DEA's stated concern is concentrated products, not the plant as it grows. Its notice records that in its natural botanical form 7-OH "makes up less than two percent of the total alkaloid content" of kratom, or occurs only in trace amounts, and that commercially available extracts and synthetic formulations contain "a significantly higher concentration" of it than the plant does.

So "kratom" and "the 7-OH tablet behind the counter" are different legal objects. Whether a particular tea, powder or tablet sits above the proposed threshold depends on what is actually in it, not on the word printed on the package.

What Arizona law already says about 7-OH

Arizona did not wait for the federal government. Its Kratom Consumer Protection Act regulates kratom products by concentration and labeling rather than banning the plant.

The Kratom Consumer Protection Act

Under A.R.S. 36-795.02, a processor or retailer in Arizona may not prepare, distribute, sell or expose for sale:

• a kratom product adulterated or contaminated with a dangerous nonkratom substance, including a controlled substance;
• a kratom product "containing a level of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the alkaloid fraction that is greater than two percent of the alkaloid composition of the product";
• a kratom product containing "any synthetic alkaloid, including synthetic mitragynine, synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine or any other synthetically derived compounds of the kratom plant"; or
• any kratom-containing product whose package or label does not state the amount of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine in it.

The same section bars selling a kratom product to anyone under eighteen.

A.R.S. 36-795 defines a "kratom product" as "a food product or dietary ingredient containing any part of the leaf of the plant mitragyna speciosa." Under 36-795.03, a processor or retailer that violates these rules commits a class 2 misdemeanor, and a person harmed by a violation of the product rules can sue for damages. The same section gives a processor or retailer a defense if a court finds it relied in good faith on a manufacturer's, packer's or distributor's representation that the food was a kratom product.

Arizona and the federal proposal also measure differently. Arizona counts 7-OH as a share of a product's alkaloids; the federal proposal counts it per gram or milliliter and against the mitragynine present. A result under one law does not tell you the result under the other.

Why the Attorney General says the law is hard to enforce

On December 9, 2025, Attorney General Kris Mayes warned about products sold in gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores as kratom or "all-natural" supplements, many of which in fact contain highly concentrated synthetic substances such as 7-OH. Her office was candid about the statute: it "is difficult to enforce in practice," because proving a product is adulterated or injurious "often requires sophisticated lab testing and expert testimony," the kind of work usually reserved for major felony cases rather than a class 2 misdemeanor. She said she planned to work with lawmakers to strengthen the law.

That is how an Arizona limit on paper and a concentrated product on a Phoenix shelf can both be true at once.

What happened to House Bill 2415

House Bill 2415 was one attempt to close that gap in the 2026 session. As amended in the Senate, it would have added kratom products containing more than 800 parts per million of 7-hydroxymitragynine, along with various synthetically derived kratom compounds, to Arizona's definition of narcotic drugs. It would also have raised the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21 and barred selling kratom products within 500 feet of a school, childcare facility or preschool.

It passed the House 36 to 17 and the Senate 22 to 7, in different versions. The Legislature's record lists its final status as held in the Senate, with no chapter number and no action by the governor. It is not law, and a similar bill could return in a future session.

What a scheduling order would change, and what it would not

A scheduling order settles what a store may sell. For the families who call Guiding Road, the question underneath is a different one: he takes this every day, so what happens to him when it is gone?

The shelf is a legal fact and the body is a medical one

NIDA, the drug research institute at the National Institutes of Health, describes mitragynine as breaking down into 7-OH in the body, with both compounds activating mu-opioid receptors. The DEA's October notice says preclinical data show 7-OH carries risks, including tolerance, dependence and respiratory depression, "comparable to those of classic opioid analgesics." It also cites poison center reporting of 165 exposure cases involving 7-OH between January 1 and July 31, 2025. Among people exposed to 7-OH alone, 35 percent had serious health problems and 67 percent were treated at a healthcare facility.

None of that follows the calendar of a scheduling order. A change in legal status does not change what a body has already adapted to.

Stopping suddenly because a product disappears

This is the practical risk in a fast-moving ban. An order would take effect the day it publishes, products could leave shelves soon after, and a man who has been taking 7-OH daily could then face withdrawal on someone else's timetable rather than his own.

Coming off concentrated 7-OH is an opioid-type withdrawal, and it is not the same experience as stopping kratom leaf. If that is where he is, how 7-OH withdrawal differs from kratom leaf withdrawal sets out what changes.

Guiding Road does not provide detox on site. When medical detox from 7-OH is the first step, the admissions team coordinates it with a medical partner before he starts the program.

Common myths about whether 7-OH is banned

Myth: 7-OH is already illegal everywhere in the United States

As of October 14, 2026, no federal order covers 7-OH itself, and state laws differ. Reports of a federal ban in July 2026 described a notice of intent, which the DEA has since said it is withdrawing in favor of a new one. What is federally controlled today is the three related compounds placed in Schedule I in August.

Myth: if a store can sell it, someone checked it for safety

There are no FDA-approved 7-OH drugs, and the FDA says 7-OH is not lawful in dietary supplements and cannot be lawfully added to conventional foods. In July 2025 it recommended that certain 7-OH products be controlled under the Controlled Substances Act. A product on a shelf is evidence of what is being sold, not of what anyone has reviewed.

Myth: Arizona's 2 percent cap means what is on Phoenix shelves is legal

The 2 percent cap applies to kratom products and is measured against the product's alkaloid composition. Synthetic alkaloids are barred in kratom products at any level, and every kratom-containing product has to state its mitragynine and 7-OH content on the package or label. A kratom-containing product with no such figures is not meeting the labeling rule. Given what the Attorney General has said about enforcement, a product on a Phoenix shelf is not proof it is permitted.

When to talk to someone about 7-OH use

Signs that dependence has formed

Dependence tends to show up in three ways: needing more to get the same effect, taking it to head off withdrawal rather than for any effect at all, and attempts to stop that do not hold. If that describes your husband, your son or your brother, the legal question has stopped being the important one.

What the first call with admissions covers

Guiding Road Recovery Center provides addiction treatment for men, with care for co-occurring mental health conditions, in the Phoenix, Arizona metro: residential, PHP and IOP care, with supportive housing at the Scottsdale location. On a first call, the admissions team talks through where he is, whether detox has to come first, and whether the program fits him. You can read more about 7-OH addiction treatment for men or talk with the admissions team. Guiding Road is accredited by the Joint Commission for behavioral health care.