DENVER — The first safety studies of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) are expected to be related to the public on Monday.
7-OH comes from Kratom leaves. It's an herbal substance, capable of producing sedative or stimulant effects. Kratom — in general — is increasingly used for treating chronic pain, according to researchers.
National Policy Director for the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) Dr. Jeff Smith listed three reasons he's comfortable with the use of 7-OH:
- 7-OH has no lasting negative impact even at high doses.
- There have been more than 500 million doses taken over the last two years and only five adverse effects have been reported.
- People who've used it say it has helped them manage chronic pain.
"There are some people that may have a minor headache or may have minor gastrointestinal discomfort. Compared to the what happens with opioids and, again, millions of deaths in this country over the last couple decades as a result of opioid addiction. We think that those kinds of very mild side effects are, you know, acceptable," Smith said. "Because of its lack of toxicity, we aren't concerned that people will cause themselves health problems by taking it, say when they wake up every day or before they go to sleep every night."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved 7-OH. Yet, you can buy it from a variety of stores in some communities.
Smith said HART wants more safety restrictions.
"Let me be clear about this. No one in heart wants a Wild West. We want a regulatory framework in every state. We want to make sure that there are safety restrictions, that there is age gating so that children can't get 7-OH. We want to make sure that there's labeling restrictions," Smith said. "We want to make sure that there are third party testing requirements so that people know exactly what they're getting when they go to a store to buy 7-OH."
Some of the things Smith mentioned are already regulations for Kratom in Colorado. The governor signed the Daniel Bregger Act into law in May. The Daniel Bregger Act, among other things, prohibits people from making, distributing or selling Kratom that has too high a level of 7-OH.
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Bregger is from Colorado and died in 2021. His dad told Denver7 he mixed a form of Kratom and Bendadryl.
"We are seeing the amount of people reporting really awful, awful effects from these products being sold at gas stations, vape stores and online, and there is no warning, and they're making all kinds of claims," Carlson said. "So putting these basic, I mean, that Bill had basic, basic safeguards and protections, and, you know, getting ahead of it versus waiting until we have a catalog of all these harms and deaths."
Co-founder and National Policy Director of One Chance to Grow Up Diane Carlson supports the law.
"When there are no standards, there's no safety testing, you don't know what's in it. And the other thing is, you don't know how something else you may be taking, maybe over the counter, even, you know, not even a medication can interact, and yeah, that can be very potentially dangerous," Carlson said.
