Alert: DEA Notice Threatens Kratom Products with Trace Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl, No Exemption Proposed

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has filed Notice #DEA-1571 (Federal Register Docket #2026-13581), proposing to place Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl (MP), MGM-15, and MGM-16 into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Crucially, this notice does not include any legal threshold or exemption for naturally occurring trace amounts of MP that may be present in plain leaf kratom, particularly oxidized varieties like red kratom or products that oxidize during storage.

The 'So What?':

• Immediate Legal Status Changes: DEA Notice #13581 proposes to place Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl (MP), MGM-15, and MGM-16 into Schedule I without any exemption for naturally occurring trace amounts in plain leaf kratom. This means products containing any MP could be federally illegal, regardless of whether it was naturally occurring or synthetically added.
• Payment Processing/Bank Stability Risks: If enacted, merchants selling kratom products that contain even trace amounts of MP could face immediate payment processing shutdowns, bank account closures, and increased transaction declines due to the federal Schedule I status of the substance.
• Shipping/Logistics Warnings: Any kratom product found to contain MP, even in trace amounts, would be considered a Schedule I substance, leading to potential seizure during shipping and severe legal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act for distributors and retailers.

Source: Kratom Science via Sentinel Newsroom