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DEA intends to place 7-OH and a related substance in Schedule I only above a threshold: over 1 mg per gram or milliliter, or a mitragynine-to-substance ratio under 100

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The Drug Enforcement Administration filed a notice October 9 saying it intends to place 7-OH and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I only above a threshold: more than 1 mg per gram of solid or per milliliter of liquid, or a mass ratio of mitragynine to either substance, or both combined, under 100. It is scheduled to publish October 14. It is not itself an order, and it says neither HHS nor DEA has made a finding that the substances are safe to use at below-threshold levels.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) filed a notice for public inspection October 9 saying it intends to place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I only when either one, or the two combined, is above a set threshold. It is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2026. It is a notice of intent, not the order itself.

The threshold

The notice quotes an October 8 letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The substances would be controlled "when either substance alone, or their combined amount if both present" meets either test:

  • A, a concentration: "greater than 1 mg per gram (for solid powders, encapsulated material, or other solid forms) or greater than 1 mg per milliliter (for liquid preparations)".
  • B, a ratio: "The mass of mitragynine present divided by the mass of" 7-OH, or of mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, or of their combined amount if both are present, "is less than 100."

The notice says the order would temporarily place the substances in Schedule I only above a threshold "because both 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl have supposedly been found in trace amounts in some botanical kratom products".

Notice, then order

Citing 21 U.S.C. 811(h)(1), the notice says the order "will not be issued before" a date it prints as a bracket, "[INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]". By this desk's count, if the notice is published October 14, that is November 13, 2026. The Administrator intends to issue the order "as soon as possible after the expiration of 30 days". Once published, it would subject the substances above the threshold to "schedule I regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions" for two years, with a possible extension of an additional year. There is no comment period.

What is in force now

DEA says a separate document in the same issue withdraws its July notice on 7-OH (91 FR 40917), which used a lower threshold. That document was not on the public-inspection list the morning of October 10. The Justice Department says that for 7-OH, DEA "had not yet issued a temporary scheduling order".

An August 26 order (91 FR 54948) placing mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I with no threshold "remains in effect until either it expires or the new temporary order is published and the previous order is withdrawn, whichever occurs first."

What it does not say

The summary says "neither HHS nor DEA has made a finding that these substances are safe to use at below-threshold levels." Individuals "should not infer" from the notice that DEA views the substances below the threshold "as safe for consumption", it adds.

The documents disagree in three places: the notice dates DEA's July notice both July 7 and July 6 (the Register lists July 6); companion notice 2026-20942 cites an HHS letter of October 6 that "related only to mitragynine pseudoindoxyl"; and one paragraph says mitragynine pseudoindoxyl "is not federally controlled under the CSA," though the notice says the August order remains in effect.

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