Missouri Attorney General: Families deserve the truth about kratom and 7-OH | Opinion
Missouri families are under siege from a deceptive and deadly opioid, and it’s time we take a stand. The substance 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, is a dangerous opioid derived from kratom, hiding in plain sight. When 7-OH can hook the most vulnerable, devastate families, and masquerade as a wellness aid, we have a duty to act.
Families deserve the truth. The FDA has reported that 7-OH produces respiratory depression with a potency more than three times that of morphine. The CDC has reported a 1,200% increase in annual hospitalizations for kratom exposures from 2015 to 2025. Missourians, including those struggling with opioid addiction, are being dangerously misled into believing that 7-OH is predictable, safe, and natural. It is not.
Do not assume 7-OH is safe just because it sits on a store shelf.
We have spoken with grieving Missouri mothers who have lost their children or watched their sons and daughters cycle back into rehab because of 7-OH. Their voices are anguished and urgent: please stop this before this drug claims another innocent victim. Their pain is a warning we cannot ignore, and being a mother fuels my determination to eradicate the threat of 7-OH from our communities.
This week, our office filed suit against CBD American Shaman and a web of companies connected to it for unlawfully manufacturing, distributing, and selling 7-OH and other kratom alkaloids in Missouri. Specifically, American Shaman marketed and handed out free samples of kratom alkaloid products without the safety testing and regulatory approvals required by state and federal law. The company failed to disclose serious risks such as withdrawal and overdose, and some of their labels even downplay addiction risks or omit the danger of overdose entirely. Offering “free samples” of an addictive opioid-like substance is reckless and unconscionable.
Our goal is simple: get 7-OH out of Missouri communities.
We have asked the Jackson County Court to declare American Shaman’s practices unlawful and to halt it from advertising and selling kratom and 7-OH products. This is about accountability and prevention. Our goal is to protect every Missouri family from these drugs.
This is not about politics. It is about families who cannot sleep because a chewable sold at a gas station could end the life of someone they love. It is about people in recovery being told that 7-OH is “safe,” only to wake up in an ICU, or not at all.
Our commitment to safeguarding the public does not end with one lawsuit. Our statewide investigation has already issued 12 Civil Investigative Demands to potentially offending kratom and 7-OH retailers, and we are just getting started.
To the mothers and fathers who have called and written: we hear you. We will not stop until 7-OH is treated the same as other deadly, addictive drugs. We will keep investigating, filing suit where warranted, and demanding accountability from anyone who profits at the expense of Missouri families.
Catherine Hanaway is Missouri Attorney General.