Herbal and Psychedelic News: Week of September 21, 2026

Two things actually moved this week, both on kratom, and both at the state level. Colorado collected a six figure settlement over 7-OH potency limits, and an Oklahoma legislator said he will file a bill to put kratom in Schedule I. The rest is older news carrying deadlines that are still open.

Colorado Collects $152,000 Over 7-OH Potency Limits

On September 21 the Colorado Attorney General's office announced a settlement with Sahansila Karki and Gokul Tiwari. The two run a wholesale distributor called DNB Distro and 15 brick and mortar shops, most of them under the Million Smoke N Vape name. They pay $152,000. If they violate the terms, another $500,000 comes due.

The law behind it is Senate Bill 25-072, the Daniel Bregger Act, signed May 29, 2025. It caps 7-hydroxymitragynine at 2 percent of the alkaloid fraction in a kratom product, sets 21 as the minimum age, and requires specific information on the label. The state said these products went over the 7-OH cap and the labeling fell short of what the statute requires.

The owners must now test every kratom product they sell and keep invoices documenting every third party purchase.

What it means: Colorado is enforcing the potency cap, not just carrying it on the books. For anyone selling into that state, the 7-OH number on the certificate of analysis is the thing that gets checked, and so is the paper trail showing where the material came from.

An Oklahoma Legislator Says He Will File a Schedule I Kratom Bill

Rep. Tim Turner, a Republican from Kinta and a former sheriff and narcotics officer, said on September 18 that he intends to file legislation placing kratom and kratom-derived products in Schedule I of Oklahoma's Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act. KGOU and KOKH both reported it on September 21.

Read that stage carefully. The bill does not exist yet. It has no number, it has not been filed, and the 2027 Oklahoma session has not started. Turner said he is working with law enforcement to draft it. He cited 38 deaths between January and June 2026 linked to compounds found in kratom, a figure attributed to him in the reporting rather than to a published state report we could pull.

Oklahoma law today still permits kratom sales, with potency limits and a minimum age of 18 (KGOU).

What it means: an intention, not a law. Nothing about selling or buying in Oklahoma changed on September 18. The time to pay attention is when bill filing opens for the 2027 session and the text becomes public.

Addiction Clinics Report More Kratom and 7-OH Cases

STAT reported on September 21, with the story carried by the Boston Globe on September 22, that addiction treatment centers around the country are seeing more patients for kratom and 7-OH dependence. Boulder Care, a telehealth clinic, said kratom patients went from 3 percent of new admissions in September 2025 to 14 percent in August 2026. Recovery Centers of America said its two Massachusetts inpatient sites went from roughly one such patient a week to between 10 and 20. Clinicians at Milestone Treatment Center, which has locations in New Jersey, Virginia and Texas, described the same direction.

Be clear about what this is. These are clinic intake numbers described to a reporter, not a peer reviewed study. No control group, no published methodology.

What it means: by the accounts in that story, the concentrated 7-OH products are driving the increase, not traditional leaf material. That distinction is the entire argument currently in front of federal and state regulators, so expect both sides to cite this piece.

The FDA Psychedelics Docket Closes October 5

The FDA held a public hearing on the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs on September 14, so this one is a few days older than the rest of this post. The part that is still live is the comment period. Per the Federal Register notice, docket FDA-2026-N-7542 accepts comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on October 5, 2026.

What it means: this is about supervised clinical use of psychedelic drug products, not retail sales of anything. Nothing here changes the legal status of any plant. If you have something substantive to say to the agency, the docket is open for about two more weeks.

FDA Is Taking Comment on Botanical Drug Development Until November 3

On September 3 the FDA issued a request for information on botanical drug product development. The agency asked about quality standards, study designs for complex botanical mixtures, real world evidence, and possible updates to its guidance. Docket FDA-2026-N-9550 is open for comment until November 3, 2026.

What it means: this concerns the drug approval pathway for botanicals, which is a separate track from how supplements and food ingredients are sold. Worth reading if you care how the agency thinks about standardizing plant material, because standards written here tend to shape expectations elsewhere later.

North Dakota Kratom Sales Are Still Closed

Worth restating because people keep getting this wrong. Governor Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1628 on September 4. It bans synthetic kratom derivatives including concentrated 7-OH, MGM-15, MGM-16 and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl. It restricts natural kratom to buyers 21 and older, requires retailers to hold an annual license from the Attorney General's office, and requires labels listing mitragynine and 7-OH content based on accredited lab testing.

The governor's office stated that sale of all kratom and kratom products remains prohibited in North Dakota until administrative rules are implemented under HB 1628. Signing the bill did not reopen the market.

What it means: North Dakota is closed for now. Anyone shipping there should treat it that way until the Attorney General's rules and licensing are actually in place.

What We Left Out

A few stories circulating this week did not survive checking. The claim that the FDA formally confirmed kava's status as a food traces back to a trade group press release from December 2025 citing no FDA letter, guidance or notice we could locate. Several kratom ban headlines going around refer to Massachusetts rules that took effect earlier this year. We found no verifiable news in the past week on blue lotus, Amanita muscaria, akuamma or wild dagga, only undated vendor pages.

Healing Herbals sells some of the plants covered above. Nothing in this post is legal advice, and laws referenced here change quickly, so confirm your own state and local rules before you buy or sell. Adults 21 and over.

Sources

Written by Healing Herbals