Vape shops in North Texas are selling potentially illegal and dangerous products marketed as “kratom” over the counter, and one industry advocate says it’s time for authorities to step up enforcement.
People who use kratom leaf products, which are sold legally in the U.S., have reported “opioid- and stimulant-like effects,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
But kratom industry advocates and researchers are raising the alarm on a relatively new line of products they say were synthetically altered to increase potency. Multiple business owners selling the products say they would like to see better regulations to avoid throwing out thousands of dollars in products or facing fines.
At the center of the controversy are products, which can come in tablet or liquid form, containing high levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, or “7-OH,” a chemical compound that, according to researchers, is only found in trace amounts in the kratom plant.
The Texas Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted just over a year ago, sets the legal limit of 7-OH in products to no more than 2% of the total alkaloid content.
The Global Kratom Coalition submitted a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton in July saying an independent lab detected illegal levels of 7-OH in products sold at five different vape stores in Dallas, Denton and Coppell. Similar products also were found at vape shops in Collin County.
According to the letter, independent lab results found evidence showing the products contained synthetically derived chemical compounds from kratom plants, which also is in violation of the act.
Mitragynine is the most abundant substance in kratom and widely believed to be the central chemical compound responsible for the plant’s effects.
Researchers say there is evidence that 7-OH is created when mitragynine is decomposing or ingested, but too little is known about the chemical. They warned that products with unnatural levels of the chemical compound were likely created synthetically in a lab setting.
Both mitragynine and 7-OH act similarly to opioids like codeine and morphine by activating biochemical pathways that elicit pain relief and can also affect mood. Some studies found that 7-OH is stronger than mitragynine.
Those who have studied the health effects and pharmacology of kratom say not enough is known about 7-OH.
Matthew Lowe, executive director of the coalition, said he thinks pure kratom products should not be treated the same as those with elevated levels of 7-OH.
“The regulatory environment is a little bit gray at this point in time,” Lowe said. “You’ve also got a situation where the innovation, in and outside the kratom industry, in isolated synthetic products is increasing at a really, really fast pace. We’re concerned that kratom, in many cases, is no longer kratom.”
The organization has not received a response from the attorney general’s office, and Paxton’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Four of the five stores that the Global Kratom Coalition reported to the attorney general as selling illegal 7-OH products were still carrying the products in early September. One store told The Dallas Morning News the product was out of stock.
Amjad Natha, who owns Cloud 9 Smoke Shop in Denton, said fast-changing regulations have hurt his business in the past. Natha was the only store owner who spoke to The News on the record.
Natha said he has lost tens of thousands of dollars in products he had in the store that later became illegal.
He also wants increased regulation on 7-OH products so that retailers have a clearer idea of what could be illegal.
“Smoke shops are not easy; you have to put in a lot of money,” he said.
Natha said his stores started carrying 7-OH products about three months ago after customers began asking for it.
Now, he is considering returning or disposing of the 7-OH products he has in the store.
“I can take it back if it’s not legal, but I’m just going to lose my customers,” he said.
The Food and Drug Administration describes kratom as “a new dietary ingredient for which there is inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that such ingredient does not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” The Drug Enforcement Administration considers kratom a “chemical of concern.”
Regulations on kratom, including those related to 7-OH levels, vary by state. Kratom products are illegal in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Lowe’s organization lobbied to pass legislation in California that limits the 7-OH to an overall alkaloid content ratio to 1%. He said the organization is working in more than a dozen states to push for “appropriate regulation” of kratom.
The proliferation of 7-OH products is a relatively new trend in the industry — something his team first became aware of about 18 months ago, Lowe said.
“We always thought it was going to happen, and then we saw it actually happen. It was pretty slow-going for the first six months or so,” he said. “But really, this year, it has hit its straps, and we’re seeing it everywhere.”
Lowe is concerned about how 7-OH products will hurt the entire kratom industry because it could erode the public’s trust in what he considers to be unadulterated kratom products.
“If we don’t get the word out on this to people and people get hurt with 7-hydroxymitragynine, they’re not gonna say, ‘Oh, it was 7-OH that hurt people,’ They’re gonna say it’s kratom that hurt people,” Lowe said.
Some recent studies show 7-OH concentration in unadulterated, natural kratom leaves is less than 1% of the total alkaloid content, he added.
“So either we don’t see it at all in the leaf, dried leaf, or we see incredibly small amounts,” said Christopher McCurdy, a medical chemistry professor at the University of Florida.
People can use chemicals to transform mitragynine into 7-OH, but the process can also change other chemical compounds in the kratom leaf, McCurdy said.
“Since we don’t even know what they are, we have no idea what their potential toxicities are,” McCurdy said.
Some, including the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, have argued there is potential for 7-OH to be “used as a safer alternative to traditional opiates.”
“Its safety profile and effective pain relief potential make it a promising alternative to traditional opioids,” the website states. “This approach could improve access to safer pain management, potentially reducing opioid misuse.”
The trust did not return a message requesting comment.
Kirsten Smith, who started the Kratom Research Unit at Maryland Opioid Research at Johns Hopkins University, said there is still much to learn about the plant and its potential harm and benefits.
While kratom does have addictive properties and the potential to be abused, Smith said 7-OH addiction or abuse should not be treated the same.
“To call or equate kratom with an opioid is absolutely moronic, but with respect to 7-OH, I think you actually could put that under an opioid use disorder assessment diagnosis and treatment umbrella,” Smith said.
People who need help with substance abuse and/or addiction can go to drughelpline.org, or call the National Drug Hotline at 1-844-289-0879.