Michigan lawmakers mull regulating kratom and ‘gas station heroin’ byproduct

Kratom is legal and has been used safely for centuries in Asia. It has been used for pain, anxiety, depression and even opioid use disorder, supporters say. Others argue that its components — particularly 7-OH — may be deadly. Photo credit: Bridge file photo.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan (bridgemi.com), a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter here (https://bit.ly/BridgeMichiganNewsletter).” 

by Robin Erb, Bridge Michigan

Michigan lawmakers Thursday debated possible restrictions of kratom, a product largely unregulated now in Michigan.

The Michigan Kratom Consumer Protection Act, sponsored by State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, would do the following:

• Ban distributing, selling, or manufacturing without a license
• Ban sales to anyone under 21
• Require testing of raw materials sold or distributed in Michigan
• Establish labeling requirements, including health and safety warnings
• Ban the sale or distribution of kratom products that contain certain substances
• Require Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to establish rules and enable it to seek declaratory or injunctive relief against anyone violating the rules.

It has a long history of use in Southeast Asia. Kratom leaves are crushed and then smoked, brewed with tea or placed into gel capsules.

But the science over its effects is far from settled.

Its users report increased alertness and energy and argued that people have used kratom in moderation to self-treat pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder and opioid withdrawal, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

Others have argued that its components can be addictive and dangerous. Kratom leaves contain two major psychoactive ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Users also have experienced nausea, itching, sweating, dry mouth, constipation, increased urination, irregular heart rhythms, vomiting, drowsiness, loss of appetite and sedative effects. In worse cases, they’ve reported anorexia, insomnia, seizures and hallucinations, according to the DEA. A 2019 review of overdose deaths published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implicated kratom in 152 of the 27,338 deaths; however, the same study noted that other drugs could not be ruled out as the cause of death.

In front of the House Regulatory Reform Committee, the bill’s sponsor Thursday echoed the American Kratom Association, which argues that the bill is “crucial legislation that would establish responsible regulations for safe kratom products while keeping them legal.”

“There’s no regulations,” Cavitt said, in answering other lawmakers’ questions. Kratom sellers can “do what they want.”

“It’s an unregulated industry right now. … You don’t know what you’re getting. There’s no serving sizes. If you and I were going to go out and enjoy some kratom, we wouldn’t even know how much to take,” he said.

At particular issue is kratom’s byproduct 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH or “gas station heroin.”

The US Food and Drug Administration, under direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has recently moved to schedule 7-OH as a controlled substance, framing 7-OH as the “next wave of the opioid crisis.”

Cavitt referred to a Sault St. Marie man who thought he was buying kratom from a convenience store but instead purchased 7-OH and overdosed.

“Twelve-year-olds can go buy this,” Cavitt said.

Eighteen states have made kratom legal but regulate it, Mac Haddow, a senior policy fellow with the American Kratom Association, told lawmakers

But John Cleveland, representing the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, said 7-OH is safe, like kratom, with regulation. He framed much of the debate as an internal industry fight over market share and “scapegoating,” he said.

Efforts to ban 7-OH, he said, are “part of a deliberate, considerate and strategic effort by some creative manufacturers to ensure their own survival.”

“It’s the age-old sacrificial lamb maneuver, and it’s why you’re suddenly hearing so much about this novel, largely harmless alkaloid,” he said, referring to 7-OH.

He, too, urged lawmakers to regulate kratom products, by establishing dosing limits, age restrictions, requirements for childproof packaging, third party testing and oversight in marketing.

The bill remains in the House committee.

This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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