Recommendation Made By RFK Jr. To Restrict Popular 7-OH Opioids
“I spent 14 years as a heroin addict,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a Tuesday, July 29, press conference. “I have been 43 years in recovery.”
At 71, RFK Jr. is now working to Make America Healthy Again, and that effort was continued as HHS and the FDA announced they are recommending policies restricting 7-OH opioids, also known as 7-hydroxymitragynine.
These 7-OH opioid products, which are synthetically produced from the kratom plant, are widely sold at gas station convenient stores and vape shops across America.
“7-OH is increasingly recognized as having potential for abuse because of its ability to bind to opioid receptors,” the FDA stated in a July 29 press release.
Mentioning the rise of street drugs, as well as the more recent escalation of oxycodone and fentanyl abuse, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said, “We have a history of being asleep at the wheel. For the sake of our nation’s children, let’s not get caught flat-footed again.”
He added, “Public health is supposed to prevent disasters, not just clean them up when they’ve killed thousands and thousand of people.”
Recommended Policies On 7-OH Opioids
Looking to a disconnect between “the ivory towers” of the medical field, and “the streets,” Makary rhetorically asked at the July 29 press conference, “Have experts been to the vape stores? It affects what we see in the operating room.”
Continuing, he said, “I’ve been surprised going to these vape stores at what I’m seeing. First of all, roughly 85% of the vape products are illegal vape products … No cutesy, fruity flavored (gummies or vapes) designed to appeal to children … [are] legal or approved by the FDA.”
