The federal scheduling timeline for 7-OH, pseudoindoxyl and the MGM compounds

Mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16 have been federal Schedule I substances at any concentration since 2026-08-26 under a temporary order published at 91 FR 54948 that expires 2026-08-26 plus two years unless extended or made permanent (91 FR 54948). 7-OH is not yet scheduled; a reissued notice of intent published 2026-10-14 says a temporary order "will be published in the Federal Register on or after November 13, 2026" (91 FR 65370).

On 2025-07-29 FDA recommended that concentrated 7-OH products be scheduled, a recommendation HHS described as targeting concentrated 7-OH rather than natural kratom leaf (HHS press room). In June and July 2025 FDA sent seven warning letters to marketers of 7-OH products, stating that 7-OH "is not an FDA-approved drug product" and that no food additive regulation authorizes it, and that as a new dietary ingredient with no pre-1994 marketing history, supplements containing it are adulterated under section 402(f)(1)(B); the letters are recounted in the October 2026 notice (91 FR 65370).

On 2026-07-01 DEA announced its intent to place 7-OH above a threshold, and three related substances, in Schedule I on a temporary basis (DEA press release). Two notices followed on 2026-07-06. Docket DEA-1570, 91 FR 40917, proposed control of botanical material containing "more than 0.050 percentage of 7-hydroxymitragynine on a dry weight basis" and of other articles with 7-OH "greater than 0.050 percentage ... or greater than 1.00 milligram of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the article," with no order before 2026-08-05 (91 FR 40917).

On 2026-08-26 DEA published the temporary scheduling order for docket DEA-1644 at 91 FR 54948 (Vol. 91, No. 164, pp. 54948-54956), codified at 21 CFR 1308.11(h)(89) to (91): mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 (dihydro-7-hydroxymitragynine) and MGM-16 (9-fluoro-dihydro-7-hydroxymitragynine), with their isomers, esters, ethers and salts, in Schedule I with no quantity threshold, effective that day and expiring 2028-08-26 unless extended (91 FR 54948).

On 2026-08-27 the American Kratom Association announced a suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, case 1:26-cv-02997, seeking a declaration that the August order does not reach botanical kratom whose pseudoindoxyl or MGM content is naturally occurring or trace-level, citing accredited-laboratory detection of trace pseudoindoxyl in unprocessed leaf (AKA release). No stay was reported. On 2026-10-09 the association said it had agreed to dismiss the suit conditioned on DEA publishing the revised order as submitted to the court (PNN, October 9, 2026). The docket itself was not retrieved by the research, so the dismissal is reported, not verified.

On 2026-10-09 the Department of Justice announced that DEA would reissue the 7-OH notice to reflect an updated HHS scientific recommendation, issue a new notice for mitragynine pseudoindoxyl with the same thresholds, and reissue the MGM-15 and MGM-16 notice without changing its approach; the August controls stay in effect meanwhile (DOJ release).

A temporary scheduling order may publish any day from 2026-11-13. If it does, any product over the thresholds becomes a Schedule I article nationally, non-mailable under the Controlled Substances Act regardless of carrier policy, for two years. DEA cautioned in the notice that people "should not infer" that below-threshold levels are "safe for consumption" (91 FR 65370).

H.R. 8000, the END 7-OH Act, introduced 2026-03-19, would permanently schedule synthetic 7-OH while excluding naturally occurring 7-OH in kratom; the research found no movement past committee (H.R. 8000). The Congressional Research Service has summarized the federal posture in Legal Sidebar LSB11457 (CRS). DEA has separately proposed placing tianeptine in Schedule I, a substance this store has never carried.