The Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) today released statements from leading organizations, policy experts, and advocates opposing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposal to schedule 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). These voices, spanning physicians, veterans, fiscal watchdogs, youth advocates, consumer choice groups, and policy think tanks, warn that prohibition would cause more harm than good, repeating the failures of the War on Drugs while cutting off promising avenues for public health.
“Banning 7-OH is not only unscientific, it’s reckless. Instead of protecting the public, it will push consumers toward dangerous illicit markets, restrict medical research, and betray the veterans and families who have found relief through this compound,” said Jeff Smith, HART’s National Policy Director. “HART is proud to stand alongside diverse organizations to say clearly: prohibition is not the answer. Regulation, safety standards, and transparency are the path forward.”
Statements from Allied Organizations
Doctors for Drug Policy Reform:
“Banning 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) will predictably endanger public health by pushing individuals toward unregulated products of unknown potency and possible contamination. It will also obstruct needed scientific investigation into the potential of 7-OH to provide safer alternatives for pain management and opioid use disorder. A rational public health approach requires regulation that ensures product standards, transparent labeling, and continued research, rather than repeating the failures of punitive drug policies.”
Taxpayers Protection Alliance:
“The federal government is on a costly and reckless mission to eliminate 7-hydroxymitragynine (also known as 7-OH), found in a variety of popular products. Bureaucrats never seem to learn a basic lesson: banning consumer products is a terrible idea. Regulators have emphasized the harms of 7-OH, yet data from the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System fails to back up these scary-sounding claims.
As seen repeatedly throughout history, prohibition leads to far more harm and less freedom of choice. Failed policies such as banning alcohol and the ‘War on Drugs’ show that heavy-handed regulations exact a high human toll and cost taxpayers dearly. It's time to end the government's misguided war on 7-OH.”
Grunt Style Foundation:
“Taking 7-OH off the legal market doesn’t make veterans safer. It pushes them toward unregulated street sources where contamination and unpredictable potency are real risks. Talk to veterans who use 7-hydroxymitragynine — 7-OH — and you’ll hear how it helps manage pain, PTSD, and other challenges from service without the fog of opioids. It allows them to stay engaged with family, keep working, and move forward in their lives.
Our service members deserve safe, legal, and transparent access to the alternatives that work for them. Veterans already know what it means to sacrifice and live with the consequences. They’ve earned the right to make informed choices about their own recovery and well-being. Taking away a tool that many use responsibly sends the message that Washington doesn’t trust them to manage their own lives.”
Students for Sensible Drug Policy:
“The FDA’s push to schedule 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) comes without a public health crisis or clear evidence of harm. It will give law enforcement one more reason to go after young people and communities already under the microscope. We’ve seen how that story plays out under the War on Drugs. A straightforward approach is better: keep people informed, keep products safe, and respect the right to make personal choices without provoking fear of unnecessary punishments.”
End It For Good:
“Banning 7-hydroxymitragynine would push people toward the exact dangers we claim we want to stop: fentanyl-laced street drugs, unknown dosages, and sellers who answer to no one. That only leads to funerals and loss of faith in the systems meant to protect communities.”
Consumer Choice Center:
“Scheduling 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) would not only undermine consumer choice by driving millions of Americans toward illicit and potentially more harmful drugs but also restrict vital scientific research and public health innovations. The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) advocates for evidence-based regulation rather than prohibition, urging legal frameworks that ensure product safety, transparency, and access for those managing pain and addiction. Such smart regulation aligns with CCC’s mission to defend consumer rights and promote harm reduction, rather than criminalizing responsible users and stifling medical progress.”
Geoffrey Lawrence, Reason Foundation:
“Scheduling 7-OH is yet another tragic example of reflexive and premature action by the government that may circumvent actual science. 7-OH shows real promise as a safer potential substitute for opioids in the treatment of chronic pain. As a partial opioid agonist, it may also be an inexpensive alternative to help people wean off of existing opioid dependence. Nearly 100,000 Americans die each year due to opioids, so as a society we should embrace any potential alternative.
As with cannabis, psychedelics, and other substances, arbitrary actions by government to ban these substances will cut off needed research and cause far more harm than good. Moreover, there’s sparse evidence to consider 7-OH a dangerous drug.
Every time Washington schedules another substance, it does little more than hand power over to unregulated actors and cartels, who will inevitably seek to fulfill consumer demand. Instead of reducing harm, these bans criminalize personal choices and result in worse outcomes as illicit substitutes may be tainted and sellers, who have no recourse to the legal system, use violence to resolve disputes.
The answer isn’t banning 7-OH. It’s making sure people have honest information, clear standards, and the freedom to decide for themselves.”
Dr. Jeffrey Singer, Cato Institute, wrote in USA Today:
“The choice is clear: Either let 7-OH fall into the hands of cartels or regulate it to reduce harm. America doesn’t need another fentanyl crisis, especially one caused by our own actions.”
HART believes that the chorus of warnings from these organizations underscores a single truth:prohibition doesn’t work. Rather than pushing people into the shadows and fueling black markets, federal officials should pursue regulation that prioritizes safety, transparency, and consumer choice.
“The FDA has a chance to learn from history instead of repeating it,” Smith added. “The science, the experts, and the people most affected all agree: banning 7-OH would be a disaster.
About Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART)
Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) is a national nonprofit organization advocating for science-based policy, regulatory transparency, and access to safe, plant-based alternatives to opioids and other pharmaceuticals. 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a metabolite of mitragynine, the most abundant alkaloid found in kratom, is a new tool being used to combat opioid misuse and improve public health. HART strongly supports robust regulation to mandate that all 7-OH products are manufactured safely, are marketed transparently, and are kept out of the hands of children. Learn more at hartsupporter.com.
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