Federal drug enforcement authorities moved last month to restrict three potent kratom-related compounds available at retail outlets common across Colorado Springs, placing them in the same controlled-substance category as heroin and LSD.
The Justice Department, through the Drug Enforcement Administration, assigned all three semisynthetic opioid-like compounds a Schedule I designation — the federal government's strictest classification, reserved for substances it regards as carrying no recognized medical application and a pronounced risk of misuse. The restriction operates on an emergency basis and is set to remain in effect for two years, according to the announcement published August 25.
Two of the three compounds are present in retail products — among them powders, chewable tablets, and liquid shots — stocked at fuel stations, tobacconists, and corner stores. US Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the Justice Department was moving proactively against these compounds before they could become a larger public threat, and described the substances as being sold in consumer goods "often under labels that obscure their true risks."
The three newly restricted substances are mitragynine pseudoindoxyl — widely called MGPI, a high-potency derivative chemically rearranged from 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH — along with MGM-15 and MGM-16, which are also semisynthetic 7-OH derivatives. Although MGM-16 had not been confirmed as present in the retail market, the DOJ acted preemptively out of concern that the compound would have emerged as a replacement for the other restricted substances.
Kratom originates from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia and produces both stimulant and sedative effects. The natural and semisynthetic forms of its key alkaloids bind to the brain's mu opioid receptors — which help govern pain, respiration, and digestive activity — and produce pharmacological effects that resemble those of drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, or oxycodone, leading some researchers and policymakers to categorize kratom compounds as opioids.
Some clinicians say they have grown increasingly concerned about the rising number of patients presenting with dependence on these products; one addiction medicine physician reported that their facility went from seeing roughly one such case weekly a year ago to roughly ten per week more recently.
Other medical professionals worry the scheduling decision will push dependent users toward withdrawal or more dangerous alternatives, noting that some people managing opioid use disorder have turned to kratom-related products as a potentially lower-risk option or as a way to ease withdrawal from other opioids. The same expert observed that placing these compounds in Schedule I would also foreclose scientific research into any potential therapeutic value they might hold — an avenue that a less restrictive classification would have preserved.
One physician urged anyone feeling ill after stopping use of these products to seek care promptly at an addiction medicine or treatment facility, and to go to a hospital if the situation becomes life-threatening.
Several states — among them Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and California — had already imposed their own Schedule I classifications or other restrictions on semisynthetic 7-OH before the federal action took effect. Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services extended through September 10 the window for public comment on a proposed federal rule that would set a threshold for 7-OH's classification under the nation's controlled substances law.
How Colorado regulators respond during the federal two-year emergency period, and whether the state moves to address natural kratom products beyond the newly scheduled compounds, remains to be seen.