Letters to the Editor: Banning kratom would just deprive many patients of opioid-free relief

To the editor: The Food and Drug Administration’s call to classify 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as a Schedule I drug is unwarranted (“What to know about synthetic kratom, the supplement being banned in SoCal and across the U.S.,” Aug. 20). 7-OH is a natural extract from the kratom plant and the vast majority of deaths linked to use involved other drugs or contaminants. Regulators have not presented sufficient evidence of harm, yet they propose a ban that would deprive patients of relief.

After spinal surgery left me in constant pain, doctors prescribed opioids, but I feared they would worsen my anxiety and create dependence. I needed an alternative that could relieve pain without leaving me impaired. 7-OH provides that. It reduces my pain and calms my anxiety enough for me to work and live, and it has not led to dependence.

Regulation should ensure these products are not marketed or sold to young people. But banning 7-OH would remove the only option many patients have found to manage pain without opioids. That would punish patients while doing nothing to protect the public.

Philip Ray, Huntington Beach