One of the things that you’ll hear about in media is that people respond more to stories and catch-phrases than they do to facts and statistics. If someone can spin a compelling story, it tends to move us emotional people more than clearly laid out arguments with data to back it up.
One high-profile plane crash can send people into a tizzy about flying, even though they’re more likely to be hit by lightning than die in a plane crash. Because some nitwit renamed H1N1 “swine flu,” the government of Egypt ordered all domestic pigs slaughtered(even though none had the disease). When Jaws hit theaters 40 years ago, it terrified people away from beaches even though 20 times as many people are killed by cows as sharks.
Some of this is just eccentric human nature – sometimes it’s malice, which is what’s happening with one increasingly popular medicine whose competitors want to keep it off the market, so we’re stuck having to buy theirs.
There’s a plant from Southeast Asia called kratom, which is a plant native to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand that has been used for centuries in tea as a remedy for a large number of ailments like pain, fatigue, depression, and anxiety. An active ingredient in kratom is 7-hydroxymitragynine (or 7-OH) which has found applications in helping people withdraw from opioids. Natural 7-OH products have become particularly helpful in this space and, in turn, popular.
Because of this, people who want to lump Natural 7-OH in with synthetic kratom (MGM-15 and MGM-16 are particularly potent) have dubbed it “gas station heroin” – a phrase that’s been repeated all over the place. The people pushing against Natural 7-OH understand that people respond more to stories and catch-phrases than they do to facts and statistics.
The facts of course do not support this narrative. Americans have consumed roughly 2 billion (that’s with a b) servings of Natural 7-OH since 2023, and the FDA’s adverse event database logged about 100 reports. So that means there’s one adverse event per 20 million servings, fewer than the agency receives about ordinary soap. And of those very few events, there are ZERO confirmed cases of fatalities from 7-OH alone despite years of commercial use.
Now in March 2026, the CDC announced a rise in kratom-related reports to poison centers. While this correlates with an explosion in the popularity of kratom, it does not mean it is getting more dangerous. This report did not establish clear causation of severe clinical outcomes for patients due to kratom/7-OH alone. This is an example of correlation not equaling causation. The CDC report noted that, “Multiple-substance exposure reports, often involving addictive substances and antidepressants, were linked to the most severe clinical outcomes.”
Indeed, unlike traditional opioids like morphine or oxycodone, 7-OH does not cause what’s called respiratory depression (or reduced breathing), which is one the main causes of death in opioid overdoses. Again, the FDA would be better warning people about the dangers of cows than kratom.
Kratom is used widely across the country by people who want control over their healthcare, choosing a milder alternative to the costs and risks associated with prescription opioids. Yet, former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wanted to list Natural 7-OH alongside heroin and LSD as a Schedule I narcotic. There have been bans proposed in a variety of states and at the national level. This makes about as much sense as the government of Egypt slaughtering all its pigs because of “swine” flu.
Thankfully, President Trump has decided to side with data over fearmongering, making several shifts in policy that are consistent with harm-reduction efforts. From fast tracking review of psychedelics to treat veterans’ mental health, approving new vape flavorsto take the oxygen out of black markets, and now shifting posture on Natural 7-OH, the President is separating substances that reduce harm from those that are harmful.
Natural 7-OH is not some foreign invader suddenly sweeping through our communities. It is a naturally occurring alkaloid that many adults have turned to as a lifeline away from dangerous options. When we talk about Natural 7-OH products, we are talking about the very compound that many people credit with helping them stay employed, stay present for their families, and most importantly, stay alive.
It is worth being clear about what Natural 7-OH is not. It is not a synthetic opioid cooked up in a clandestine lab. It is not analogous to the novel synthetic compounds, many engineered in Chinese labs and smuggled across our borders, that have driven the deadliest wave of overdose deaths in American history. Conflating a plant-derived alkaloid with designer synthetics actively misleads policymakers and the public.
Certainly, kratom can be a problem if it is consumed to excess. Everything can be a problem if consumed to excess. Smart regulation is the answer. States can require potency caps, clear dosage labeling, child-resistant packaging, age verification, and third-party testing. None of that requires yanking an alternative to actual harmful drugs out of people’s hands. The President recognizes the nuances at play, and its time state policymakers follow his lead.