u/Secure_Strategy_5614

For years, the kratom industry in America has presented itself as a loose coalition of small businesses, consumer advocates, and scientists working toward responsible regulation and harm reduction. The plant, chewed or smoked or turned into a tea, is said to have “opioid-like properties” and “stimulant-like effects.” Moreover, it has been used to get people off opioids themselves, with a recent competitor compound, 7-OH, becoming increasingly popular due to it being “significantly more potent than morphine at pain relief.” Searching for 7-OH online provides pages and pages of alarmist headlines, with federal regulators pushing for its classification as a controlled substance in the summer of 2025.Internal emails, public records, and leaked documents reviewed by this publication tell a fascinating story, however, of an internecine industry fight that appears more concerned with profit motives than with consumer choice or patient care.

IN BRIEF.

Over the past eighteen months, a coordinated campaign has emerged. But the effort did not originate with new safety data or a sudden public health emergency. It originated with market pressure.As 7-OH products gained popularity among consumers for their consistency and predictable effects, legacy kratom manufacturers began losing ground. Retailers shifted shelf space. Customers followed. Industry insiders describe severe revenue losses in specific product categories, in some cases enough to threaten entire business lines.Rather than compete directly, industry leaders pursued a different approach. They turned to regulators.

THE FDA MEETING.

In January 2025, a group of scientists and consultants was invited to participate in an informational meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Emails show the meeting was not initiated by FDA scientists, but requested and organized by Sheldon Bradshaw, a former FDA Chief Counsel now serving as regulatory counsel to kratom-aligned interests.Bradshaw’s stated purpose was explicit. In emails circulated ahead of the meeting, he wrote that the goal was to educate FDA regulatory enforcement officials, rather than scientists, about the dangers of 7-OH and to push the agency to remove 7-OH products from the U.S. market.The agenda reflected that objective. It was not limited to chemistry or pharmacology. It included a segment devoted to highlighting alleged criminal histories of individuals associated with 7-OH products. The meeting was scheduled with FDA enforcement lawyers and criminal investigators, not with scientific review staff. Indeed, several invited scientists declined to attend.Johns Hopkins pharmacologist Kirsten Smith cited a lack of transparency about who was organizing the meeting and said she was uncomfortable being asked to discuss criminality as a scientist. Ohio State and Harvard professor Edward Boyer declined as well, writing that removing 7-OH would conveniently preserve market share for kratom vendors and warning that participation could damage his credibility. University of Florida professor Oliver Grundmann withdrew, citing conflicts related to ongoing litigation.Others did attend, including University of Florida medicinal chemist Dr. Christopher McCurdy and consultant Paula Brown. Brown acknowledged in emails that she had asked Bradshaw to organize the meeting specifically to reach FDA enforcement officials.By the time the meeting took place, its purpose was clear. This was not a neutral scientific consultation. It was an enforcement strategy.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA’S ROLE.

As internal industry disputes unfolded, public records requests began to reveal the importance of a single academic institution.Emails and documents obtained from the University of Florida show that UF, and McCurdy’s lab in particular, had become a central reference point for kratom policy discussions. McCurdy communicated directly with both FDA and DEA officials. His research was repeatedly cited in regulatory materials. His views appeared to shape how federal agencies discussed risk, synthesis, and scheduling.In August 2025, McCurdy emailed a DEA official, noting that he had been invited to attend an announcement recommending that 7-OH be placed into Schedule I. He requested guidance on obtaining a Schedule I research license in advance, even though the substance had not been scheduled heretofore.The concentration of influence is notable. One laboratory, and specifically one researcher, advised industry groups, corresponded with regulators, and produced the scientific literature used to justify enforcement decisions.This created a dependency, with Federal agencies coming to rely on a single authority whose work intersected directly with industry objectives.

HOW THE DATA WAS PRODUCED.

The most consequential evidence is revealed in a brief email chain from February 2025.Malaysia restricts the export of kratom plant material to recognized research institutions. Private companies and trade groups are not legally entitled to receive it. Emails indicate that the Global Kratom Coalition required Malaysian kratom material to achieve specific regulatory objectives, including arguments related to the status of Old Dietary Ingredients and contributions to an American Herbal Pharmacopoeia monograph.Because the industry could not legally receive the material, the University of Florida agreed to act as the recipient.Emails show UF would accept the shipment, perform herbarium documentation, DNA barcoding, and alkaloid analysis, and that McCurdy expected the industry group to reimburse the university for the work.The arrangement allowed industry-directed research to enter the regulatory system under the banner of academic independence. Regulators later treated data generated at UF as neutral, university-produced science.Industry defined the objective. The university executed the work. Regulators relied on the output.

THE NARRATIVE SHIFT.

With enforcement channels established, public messaging followed. That’s why, if you Google any of this, there’s just a cavalcade of negative, industry-sponsored information with little evidence to back it up.Media stories began framing 7-OH as a “dangerous” synthetic drug. Isolated incidents were amplified into broader warnings. Claims circulated about contaminated products and criminal supply chains, despite the absence of validated toxicology tying those events to 7-OH.The timing coincided with state enforcement actions and proposed legislative changes. The goal was urgency. Pressure regulators to act quickly, before deeper scrutiny could take place.

WHAT THE RECORD REALLY SHOWS.

The research does not indicate an organic public health response. It shows a structured campaign.Industry leaders faced market disruption. Political operatives translated commercial concerns into regulatory language. Academic institutions provided credibility. Regulators acted on data shaped upstream by private interests.Whether 7-OH ultimately warrants regulation is a legitimate question, and that isn’t up for debate. Like anything in this space, the safety of the consumer should take precedence over any business interest or profit motive. But the process documented here did not answer questions through open scientific inquiry.The outcome was decided first. The machinery followed.

7 quitter sub & some folks in Kratom community are upset and voicing their rather critical opinion on the 7 hope call. Everything from “script writers” and “addicts who can’t accept truth….” Although I agree that it’s expected to hear them advocate for a ban. Simply put, a ban doesn’t solve anything. That’s really our stance. Fentanyl is illegal… what’s killing more Americans than anything in 2026? Gun violence is illegal…. How many school shootings has that stopped? A ban is almost always never the answer. I can go on & on about how 7oh is not fatal, safe respiratory system even in absurd amounts, etc. but whether I’m a 7oh user or 7oh quitter, my stance would be; regulate. Tell the consumer what he’s taking and the risk involved. ID all customers, pull from head shops and gas stations. Child proof packaging that doesn’t appeal to teenagers & let the grown adults decide what they want to spend their money on. You can drink yourself under the bar at damn near every corner pub in America right? How many people is that killing? Why isn’t that illegal? You’ve got billboards, Super Bowl commercials, & World Cup advertisements for alcohol. What’s the number of Americans that parish due to DUI related accidents? Not to mention alcoholism?

I’d bet ya my firstborn child that number is greater than 7oh.

What’s worse than 7 quitters & the poor select few who were deceived into taking 7 daily is plain leaf users who walk some moral high ground because they think they’re substance is somehow ‘morally superior’ to ours. If we’re a group of addicts, what’s that make you? News flash to those guys… If we get axed, you guys are next. I expect 7 quitters to support the ban, because most didn’t know they were falling into addiction. They feel victim to tactics by feel free and smoke shop brands. So they weren’t aware of the consequences to begin with, understandable response from them. But the aka and its supporters? Can get fffffdddddd

Point is, our government is the real adversary here. Aka & anti 7 people are a pain to debate with but no policy maker or enforcer should be influenced by “the almighty dollar” it’s un American & quite frankly a slap in the face to everyone. Advocate or not.

Ask yourself Kratom advocates/7 quitters, given your situation played out the way it did (& I do have immense sympathy for you)…
would you want your government telling you what you can & can’t do? Or is it more so their job to make sure there is a safe space curated for you and that you are well aware of the dangers of things before you take them? What’s safer? A regulated market… or a black one?

As nuanced as it may seem, in a nutshell I need to know how much mg for mg how much mit I need to replace 15-25mg dose of 7oh. I know in my grave amounts of 7oh is found in mit but I’m obviously tapering and transitioning and was looking for some guidance, advice and hope.

Let’s say I regularly dose 7 anywhere between 15-25mg tab a couple times a day, how much Mg of MIT would replace that?

Thanks in advance

Woke up this morning and had a scheduled physical exam with my pcp who I’ve seen once now over the course of about a year. I figured I tell her what I’m experiencing and the trouble I’ll soon be in as I’m a user of 7oh.

She told me “it’s horrible and nobody should be using that or Kratom” okay…? then she followed it up “I don’t know enough about it so I can’t offer you anything to help for withdrawal”

so which is it?? You think it’s horrible or don’t know about it? I told her I have developed a dependency and have terrible withdrawal her response was “take some of the lexapro I gave you and that will help with anxiety” okay lady…. so what about my rls? Insomnia? Chronic pain from my 3 herniated disc? Ssri takes 2 weeks to work, what about my anxiety right now? What the fuck am I even sitting in front of you for? Why is my insurance and I paying you? Her response was “well keep taking Kratom” WHILE laughing I reiterated ITS GETTING BANNED she said “great” and walked out… I was absolutely speechless.

So because you’re high on the hog and don’t experience what your patients do, you don’t consider it an issue? Selfish bitch.

This is quite literally why us middle class workers who have to get up and hump for 10-12 hours a day to our food on the table while in chronic pain, while with insomnia, while dealing with crippling anxiety, use alkaloids, because we don’t laughed at by the fucking professional. We’re both going to go home tonight and jump in bed and I wonder… will she think “man I wonder if he feels any better” or “I hope he finds some peace and rest tonight” but this fucking cunt probably can’t think past her double pump lattes and the new figs drop.

Anyone know how and where I can talk to someone & get a sub script? Maybe some other help meds that I’m unaware of? Im not feeling well and I want to be clear I TRIED. But our government is fucking broken and so is our medical system. So if I decide to make love to my pistol tonight it’ll be because I was never able to get the fucking help I begged and pleaded for even when I asked and paid for it. Yeah I made decisions to put me in this bed, I’ll lay in it. What the fuck am I supposed to do about ignorant doctors and clueless politicians?? Please help me…