‘Big Kratom’ bigwigs want to ban 7-OH because it threatens their bottom line

Let’s say you’re presented with two substances. One has been linked to two confirmed deaths (and zero when taken on its own). The other is tied to over 200.

If I told you the one with two deaths is being branded a public health threat, you’d be suspicious. You’d probably assume someone making the substance linked to 200 deaths was trying to sell you something.

Yet, in his Atlanta Journal-Constitution guest opinion column, “FDA’s synthetic 7-OH crackdown is an attack on deception not against kratom,” Ryan Niddel, a major player in the Big Kratom corporations that control the kratom industry, makes precisely that pitch.

He claims 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a natural compound derived from kratom, is a public health crisis. Yet the products drawing the most safety scrutiny are potent, high-mitragynine kratom concentrates, the kind public reporting has linked to hundreds of deaths. Niddel’s company, MIT45, markets multiple high-mitragynine shots, by its own labeling.

What’s happening is clear: Big Kratom appears to be manufacturing a panic around 7-OH to eliminate a product they don’t sell, because it threatens their bottom line. And so far, the FDA has been more responsive to industry pressure than independent science. Thousands of Georgians use kratom or 7-OH products. The decisions federal regulators make in the coming months will directly affect what’s on store shelves here.

New stories show high-potency kratom products are being abused

The FDA’s recommendation to schedule 7-OH was presented by Big Kratom groups like the American Kratom Association and Global Kratom Coalition as a step toward consumer safety. It’s not. It seems like a coordinated campaign, complete with paid protesters, bought “experts,” and cozy regulatory relationships.

Jeff Smith

The FDA’s recommendation to schedule 7-OH was presented by Big Kratom groups like the American Kratom Association and Global Kratom Coalition as a step toward consumer safety. It’s not. It seems like a coordinated campaign, complete with paid protesters, bought “experts,” and cozy regulatory relationships.

Patients seek 7-OH because traditional medicines have failed them

While dangerous products like Feel Free remain untouched, the focus has shifted entirely to 7-OH, despite the absence of real-world harm. At the FDA press conference announcing the proposed ban, not one 7-OH user spoke. There was no data offered showing harm from 7-OH. No anecdotes about lives destroyed by it.

No peer-reviewed studies link it to fatal outcomes. Just hyperbole and fearmongering, with a star “witness” who not only did not claim to have used 7-OH, she didn’t even claim to know anyone who had. She said she’d heard from a vape store clerk that 7-OH was harmful.

This is not surprising, though, because the FDA didn’t arrive at its recommendation based on new research or consumer complaints. It came after months of coordinated lobbying from GKC, AKA, and allied companies. Groups like GKC and AKA coordinated directly with the agency, then bragged about their role. They even paid protesters through Craigslist at a trade show to create the illusion of grassroots support.

The consequences are real. Thousands use 7-OH responsibly, often after traditional medications failed them. Veterans. Parents. Workers in pain. If the FDA succeeds in banning 7-OH, Georgia consumers will lose access to a product with a better safety record than many kratom products currently sold here, all while those high-risk products remain legal. When private interests manipulate public institutions to crush competitors, that’s rigging the game, pure and simple. It’s not science-based. It’s not fair. And it’s not how a free marketplace should work.