7-OH Federal Scheduling: Facts, Deadlines, and How to Comment
Public Fact Sheet
7-OH Federal Scheduling: A Public Fact Sheet
What has actually happened, what is still pending, and how any adult can be heard before the record closes. Two federal actions are now moving on separate tracks, and they are easy to confuse.
The comment period has been reopened. It closes September 10, 2026.
The federal government reopened the public record on where the 7-OH threshold should be set. It had closed on July 31. If you did not comment the first time, or you have real information to add, this is the window and it is the only one.
Last verified against the Federal Register on August 28, 2026. This is a fast moving situation and third parties have repeatedly reported steps as finished before they happened. Everything below is checked against the official record, not press coverage.
Status at a glance
| Public comment on the threshold | Reopened. Closes September 10, 2026 (docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232). |
| MP, MGM-15, MGM-16 | Schedule I. In effect since August 26, 2026. No threshold, no grace period. |
| Concentrated or synthetic 7-OH | Still proposed. No order has been issued. The earliest legal date was August 5, 2026 and it has passed without a filing. |
| Comments filed so far | More than 27,000 on the docket as of August 28, 2026. |
| Duration of a temporary order | Two years, with a possible one year extension, while a permanent decision is weighed. |
| Not part of the federal action | Mitragynine, and natural leaf kratom below the threshold. State and county law is separate and in several places stricter. |
The two actions have separated
When this proposal was announced on July 1, 2026, it moved as one package. It no longer does, and keeping them straight is the difference between an accurate picture and a wrong one.
The synthetics are decided. On August 26, 2026, a temporary scheduling order placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MP), MGM-15, and MGM-16 into Schedule I. That order took effect the day it published. There was no grace period and no sell through window. It runs for two years.
7-OH itself is not decided. The order covering concentrated and synthetic 7-OH above a threshold has still not been issued. It has now been more than three weeks past the earliest date it could legally have taken effect, and nothing has been filed. On the same day the synthetics order published, the government reopened the comment window on the 7-OH threshold through September 10. A record that is still being collected is a record that has not yet been acted on.
Nobody can tell you when the 7-OH order will issue, and anyone who names a date is guessing. What can be said is that the comment window being open until September 10 is the clearest reason yet to use it.
How to make your voice heard before September 10
This is the part of the page that matters. Everything below this section is reference material to help you write something accurate. The federal government is collecting a public record right now, and the agencies have said the thing they most need is real usage data from the people who actually use these products. That can only come from you.
Comment only if one of these is true
- You did not submit a comment during the original window
- You have meaningful new information or experience to add
- You commented before but did not say how much 7-OH you actually use
If your first comment already covered your usage and you have nothing new, do not file a duplicate. Duplicates are identified and discounted, and they weaken the record rather than strengthening it.
1. Start with the 7-HOPE Alliance action hub
7-HOPE is running the national campaign through the September 10 deadline. Their hub has five specific actions, a script for each one, the phone numbers, and organizing calls. It is the most complete set of instructions available in one place, it is free, and it is not ours. If you only open one link on this page, make it this one.
Visit the 7-HOPE Alliance federal action hub
2. Submit a comment on the docket
The government is not asking whether to act. It is asking where the threshold should be set. Comments that speak to that question carry the most weight, and comments outside it are largely set aside.
- Open the docket. Go to regulations.gov docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232 and choose "Comment."
- Be specific and be truthful. If you are describing your own use, give real numbers: how many milligrams in a typical sitting, and how many times per day. That is the exact real world information the agencies say they need in order to set a threshold, and it is the part almost every comment leaves out.
- Write it in your own words. A short, specific, personal comment carries far more weight than a copied form letter. If you support the proposal, say so. If you oppose it, say so. Comments become part of the public record.
- Submit before September 10, 2026. The portal stops accepting comments at the end of that day.
3. Call HHS
The main line is 1-877-696-6775. Ask to leave a message for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health regarding 7-OH. Keep it short, personal, and respectful: your name, where you live, that you are a 7-OH consumer, why continued access matters to you, and that you support science based regulation rather than prohibition. It takes about a minute.
4. Contact your members of Congress
Find your U.S. Representative and both Senators through Common Cause. Open with "I am your constituent," explain why this matters to you personally, and ask them to support a science based regulatory framework rather than prohibition. Legislation on 7-OH is already pending in both chambers, so this is not a hypothetical ask, and offices track constituent contact on live bills closely.
5. Share your story publicly
Personal, respectful accounts from the people actually affected are the one thing decision makers cannot get from a study or a trade association. If you are comfortable putting your name to it, that is the most persuasive form this takes.
We are not offering any incentive, discount, or store credit for commenting, and we are not asking you to take any particular position. We ran an incentive during the first comment window. On reflection that was the wrong call for a public record that only works if what is in it is genuine, and we are not repeating it.
Reference
The rest of this page is background, so that anything you write or say is accurate.
Key terms
- 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine)
- An alkaloid present in trace amounts in the kratom leaf. Many commercial products concentrate or synthesize it well above natural levels. Proposed for temporary Schedule I above a threshold. Not yet ordered.
- MP (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl)
- A rearrangement product of 7-OH. Schedule I since August 26, 2026, at any amount.
- MGM-15 and MGM-16
- Synthetic derivatives of 7-OH. Schedule I since August 26, 2026, at any amount.
- The threshold
- The concentration line that would decide whether 7-OH is covered. As proposed: more than 0.050 percent by dry weight, or, for synthetic or processed material, more than 0.050 percent by concentration or more than 1.00 milligram of 7-OH per article. The one milligram per article prong is what reaches the large majority of tablets, shots, and edibles on the market. This number is exactly what the open comment period is asking about.
- Request for Information (RFI)
- The open docket where the public can submit data and comments on the proposed threshold, on regulations.gov. Docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232, reopened through September 10, 2026.
- Temporary scheduling
- An expedited process. An order takes effect on the day it publishes, lasts two years with a possible one year extension, and is not subject to review by a court. Comments are gathered by Health and Human Services and forwarded to the Attorney General. They inform the decision rather than constrain it.
What is covered, and what is not
Federally controlled right now:
- Any product containing MP (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl), MGM-15, or MGM-16, at any amount
Proposed, but not ordered:
- Products with concentrated or synthetic 7-OH above the proposed threshold
Outside the federal action entirely:
- Mitragynine, the primary alkaloid in the leaf
- Natural leaf kratom containing only naturally occurring, below threshold 7-OH
One nuance on trace amounts, stated carefully
Alongside the August 26 order, the Department of Justice said it will exercise enforcement discretion where only incidental trace amounts of MP are confirmed in a product otherwise consistent with botanical kratom. Read the limits, because they are the whole point: DOJ stated plainly that this does not create a legal exemption and does not change MP's status as a Schedule I substance. It does not apply to MGM-15 or MGM-16, or to any product where MP was manufactured, concentrated, fortified, or intentionally added. It appears in a DOJ announcement, not in the scheduling order itself, and it can be withdrawn at any time. Treat it as context, not as permission.
State and local law is a separate question
The federal action is only one layer. States and even individual counties are moving on their own timelines, and several have gone considerably further than the federal proposal by restricting all kratom, natural leaf included. A product that is federally lawful can still be prohibited where you live, and the map has been changing month to month. Check your own state and county rules rather than assuming the federal answer settles it.
Timeline
- July 1, 2026: DEA announces its intent to schedule 7-OH and three related synthetic compounds.
- July 6, 2026: The notices publish in the Federal Register. The clock starts.
- July 31, 2026: The original comment window on the threshold closes.
- August 5, 2026: The earliest date a temporary order could take effect. It passes with nothing filed.
- August 26, 2026: MP, MGM-15, and MGM-16 become Schedule I, effective immediately, for two years. On the same day, the comment period on the 7-OH threshold is reopened.
- September 10, 2026: The reopened comment window closes.
- Still pending, no date: The temporary scheduling order covering concentrated and synthetic 7-OH above a threshold.
Myth versus fact
- Myth: 7-OH became illegal nationwide in August. Fact: MP, MGM-15, and MGM-16 did, on August 26. The order covering concentrated and synthetic 7-OH above a threshold has not been issued.
- Myth: The comment period is over. Fact: It closed on July 31 and was reopened on August 26. It closes again on September 10.
- Myth: This bans kratom. Fact: Mitragynine and natural leaf kratom below the threshold are outside the federal action. Several states and counties have gone further on their own, so check local law.
- Myth: The order was already signed and is just waiting to publish. Fact: There is no public filing of any kind. News outlets, trade groups, and elected officials have all described this order as finished on days when it did not exist.
- Myth: Commenting is pointless. Fact: The comments are gathered by Health and Human Services and forwarded to the Attorney General, and public pressure has caused a federal scheduling action against kratom alkaloids to be withdrawn once before, in 2016. It is also worth being straight with you: this process is expedited, and a temporary scheduling decision is not reviewable by a court. Commenting is how the record gets made. It is not a guarantee of an outcome.
The window closes September 10, 2026.
If you have read this far, you know more about this action than most people commenting on it. That is exactly the kind of comment the record needs.
This fact sheet is provided for general educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects the federal record as of August 28, 2026 and will change as the rulemaking proceeds. State and local law is separate from the federal action described here and may be more restrictive where you live.