A couple months after completing detox for alcohol in June 2023, Cam got into a brutal motorcycle accident.
The 36-year-old upstate New York resident woke up hospitalized in late September after a month in a coma. “I broke every rib, every vertebrae. My pelvis was completely shattered,” says Cam, who asked to be identified by his first name because he is discussing drug use. He needed a spinal fusion and was unable to return to his job in car parts manufacturing.
“I was in pain 24/7,” Cam says.
He needed serious painkillers, and he says the 15 milligrams of oxycodone a day he was prescribed wasn’t cutting it.
“I didn’t sleep for months. I would literally scream in agony, like crying, screaming uncontrollably,” he says. (Dosing for opioids can vary greatly depending on a person’s tolerance and pain level, but 15 mg is not considered a high dose—and Cam notes he used to take “20 times that” when he struggled with addiction in the past.)
In early 2024, he says he was served an Instagram ad for a free sample of 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH—a potent compound found in kratom that activates a person’s opioid receptors. The pain relief was “right on par” with a higher dose of oxycodone, he says. While 7-OH is available in gas stations and smoke shops around the country, Cam has turned to buying it in bulk online, spending around $500 for an order that lasts him a month. It’s allowed him to be more active and do chores around the house, or even go for a car ride without being in pain.
But all that is in jeopardy now, as the Drug Enforcement Administration plans to place 7-OH onto Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act—the same category as heroin—along with similar compounds MGM-15 and MGM-16. The temporary ban, to take place August 5 at the earliest, will be in effect for two years, with the option to extend it for an additional year as the DEA works toward permanently scheduling the substances. Already, a dozen states have banned 7-OH.
“Given its pharmacological profile as an opioid agonist and high abuse potential, the marketing of 7-hydroxymitragynine products to consumers as botanical supplements constitute a significant public health risk,” reads the DEA’s notice of intent about the proposed ban. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate “dietary supplements” for safety and efficacy before they hit the market.
Some people have gone broke after their 7-OH tolerances escalated, leading to higher doses—one user tells WIRED prior to quitting, he was spending $175 every four to five days, but felt so sick he stopped working, and eventually couldn’t pay rent.
The DEA notes that people are using the unregulated dietary supplements to self-medicate chronic pain. Cam acknowledges he’s doing just that—and he’s terrified of having the treatment taken away.
“They’re fucking a lot of people,” he says of the DEA. “It’s caused me so much anxiety.”
The DEA’s action comes amid a wider rift between the mainstream kratom industry, which says 7-OH should not be classified as kratom because it’s much more potent, and 7-OH proponents who say the drug is helpful to many people and can’t be separated from kratom.
In pursuing a federal ban on manufacturing, sales, and possession, the Trump administration has sided with the kratom lobby. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy called the 7-OH industry “sinister” at a press conference last July, claiming that the products are “marketed for children,” in part because they are sometimes sold as brightly colored gummies. Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin has also supported a crackdown on 7-OH. As WIRED has previously reported, both Kennedy and Mullin have strong ties to the kratom industry. (HHS did not respond to a request for comment.)