Kratom, 7-OH laws diverge amid the spread of potent synthetic products

For years, the psychoactive compound kratom has been sold across much of the United States as an herbal supplement, available in powders, capsules and extracts with few of the restrictions applied to controlled substances.

But the market is changing. Products containing a potentially dangerous kratom derivative known as concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and other chemically modified kratom compounds are increasingly being sold alongside traditional kratom leaf products, prompting state lawmakers and federal regulators …