BOISE — The United States Department of Justice announced a temporary ban of three potent opioid compounds last week relating to chemical compounds found in the kratom plant, a supplement deriving from the leaves of a south Asian tree that has been the subject of ongoing debate in Idaho across the state and in the statehouse.
Each of the three compounds that received Schedule I classification are related to either mitragynine — a psychoactive alkaloid making up most kratom’s alkaloid content — or 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) — another alkaloid present in trace amounts in natural kratom.
In order to meet Schedule I classification, each has been determined to “have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” according to a release from the Justice Department.
The compounds subject to the ban are mitragynine psedoindoxyl (MGPI), a derivative of 7-OH, as well as GMG-15 and MGM-15, which are themselves semi-synthetic derivatives of 7-OH sold for their opioid effects.
A separate proposal at the federal level remains pending to similarly schedule 7-OH when above a threshold of 0.05 percent by dry weight for the raw plant material, but a formal classification under the Controlled Substances Act is yet to arrive.
For the substances subject to the new ban, the DEA has pointed to preclinical evidence that all three are mu-opioid receptor agonists that pose a risk of “dependence and respiratory depression.”
Natural or “botanical” kratom, which continues to be sold widely across Idaho, also acts on the brain’s mu-opioid receptors but is exempt from ban when meeting appropriate 7-OH thresholds. In the case of natural kratom, 7-OH concentration is below 2 percent, far away from its synthetic alternatives that can reach concentrations as high as 98 percent.
The supplement continues to lack any regulation in Idaho after separate efforts in the state legislature to implement an outright ban on the supplement and regulate the natural leaf industry failed to cross the finish line.
Several months removed from these debates, the impacted groups remain divided on the best course of action.
Among the individuals in the state vocally pushing back against the sale of kratom is Bonneville County Coroner Shante Sanchez
Sanchez previously issued a public health alert in October 2025 after kratom was linked to several deaths in Bonneville County. At the time of the bulletin there were six “Kratom-related deaths,” four of which were found to be solely due to acute toxicity of mitragynine, which is kratom’s primary active compound.
When speaking before state lawmakers this year, Sanchez pushed for a total ban, a position she continues to maintain.
Sanchez said Thursday the county has since seen nine deaths where kratom was either a contributing factor or an official cause through mixed-drug toxicity or acute intoxication. Three other deaths came in cases where are individual had kratom in their system but it was not listed a as a contributing factor, she added.
Sanchez noted her office, along with other agencies in Idaho, primarily rely on the National Medical Services (NMS) Laboratories for toxicology screenings. Through a 162-point toxicology panel, Sanchez said a determination is made whether kratom was the key contributor or if other substances, including tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, medications or illicit substances were also present in a decade individual.
Sanchez said a key concern for her office is the lack of clarity in how prescription medications interact with kratom use, an uncertainty that can have serious consequences.
“Physicians are able to warn of those side effects, or at least know not to prescribe certain medications with others, but when people decide to indulge in a natural substance such as kratom, and we are unsure of how it reacts to maybe medications they’re already on, it leads to things like mixed-drug toxicity.”
Sanchez also testified in favor of an outright ban before the Idaho Falls city council, which prohibited the sale of kratom in the city through an ordinance that took effect on July 1.
Dr. Norman Litchfield, a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist with St. Luke’s, said kratom has been on the American market since the early 2000s. While the earliest published report on problems relating to kratom dependence arrived in 2010, Litchfield said he personally became aware of the issue around 10 years ago when he began to see patients presenting for treatment for problems relating to kratom use.
At low doses, Litchfield said the effects can be akin to antidepressant or ADHD medications that modulate mood, tension or blood pressure. The effects can change when consuming above 40 milligrams of mitragynine, kratom’s most active chemical compound.
Above this level, kratom can begin to act on the mu-opioid receptor, in a similar manner as opioid pain medications, and produce effects of pain relief, feelings of euphoria and “respiratory depressive effects,” he said.
“As the dose goes higher and higher, respiration rate goes down and down (and) people will stop breathing if you have a high enough dose,” Litchfield said.
Litchfield said natural kratom carries risk of addiction or overdoses, but the risk is assumed to be lower because of a far-lesser potency in an unrefined or synthetic form. Though pointing out these risks, Litchfield, who also serves as the president of Idaho Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, underscored the organization broadly opposes total bans on substances of abuse for myriad reasons.
One key concern is a sudden ban would criminalize addiction and substance use disorders, putting those impacted by addiction in carceral settings that lack access to treatment and, upon release, face higher risks of overdoes and death.
With regard to kratom specifically, Litchfield said there was concern many using kratom now may not have an addiction, but could be dependent and in turn face serious withdrawal symptoms if they were to abruptly stop consumption.
An all-out ban, particularly with no education on dependency risks or available treatment options, could turn some kratom consumers to more dangerous form of opioids as a means of staving off withdrawal, making Idahaons who use kratom for “innocent reasons” suddenly being made potential criminals, Litchfield added.
Allie Mathes, 24-year-old resident of Coeur d’Alene, shared her story when testifying before legislators earlier this year as someone who found utility in kratom’s ability to manage her rheumatoid arthritis where other treatments had failed.
When first diagnosed with the chronic autoimmune disease at 21 years old, Mathes said it had already reached an aggressive state, progressing in a matter of a few months what would have been expected had it gone untreated for 10 years. Though prescribed a variety of options, including opioids, steroids, muscle relaxers and immunosuppressants, Mathes said they provided some relief for pain but did not result in mobility improvements.
After turning to natural remedies and finally kratom, Mathes said she was able to both relieve pain and regain mobility she had lost, an outcome she described as “life-changing.” Now having taken kratom for two years, Mathes said she has been able to regain her mobility and now takes 1-2 grams of the natural leaf supplement in the mornings and 1 gram in the afternoon as needed.
As for her desire for the industry, Mathes said she felt 7-OH products were deserving of a ban and the whole leaf product in need of regulation.
“I do think the 7-OH should be completely banned,” Mathes said, “but I do also believe the natural leaf needs to be regulated so people know what they’re actually getting.”
A similar perspective was voiced by Chris Deoudes, the founder of Idaho-based kratom retailer Happy Hippo. Deoudes said he has been taking kratom for about 20 years, beginning after a knee injury required surgery and a lengthy road to recovery. Deoudes described it as offering a middle ground between prescription painkillers and over-the-counter options.
Eight years later, he would launch Happy Hippo, which sells natural kratom powder and other non-synthetic kratom options. For his customer base, Deoudes said he has found about 55 percent to be female and mostly over the age of 40, effectively a “stay-at-home mom” type of brand dealing in a lifestyle supplement.
Deoudes said he felt the proliferation of 7-OH products in recent years has resulted in the kratom industry receiving a “black eye” due to being conflated with the natural products he offers that have a fraction of the concentration.
Deoudes noted addiction may be possible, but preferred to say natural kratom carried a risk of dependency he likened to caffeine. He felt this risk could be better understood through labeling warnings.
“Vendors have been always worried about the FDA having a problem with how they’re selling their product,” Deoudes said. “It’s really just been this ‘do your own research’ type of thing, and that’s not made the experience safer for consumers.”
As for the potential scheduling of concentrated 7-OH, Deoudes said the federal government taking steps to get synthetic products off the kratom marketplace presented a “turning point” for the industry.
“I think it really gives state lawmakers direction now on what the federal position is,” Deoudes said.
Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, sponsored the Kratom Consumer Protection and Safety Act this year, a regulatory framework based on a model from the American Kratom Association (AKA), a lobbying group that has worked to pass similar regulatory efforts in other states.
That legislation failed to pass but sought to introduce a variety of regulations including labeling and testing requirements, age limits and bans on synthetic derivatives. She said her aim was to pick up the pursuit when the next legislative session arrives.
“I think that that federal action actually reinforces the distinction that we’ve been trying to make here in Idaho,” Nichols said. “... We can we can protect consumers from dangerous products without eliminating entire access to the botanical kratom for responsible adults.”