California officials have banned the sales of kratom, a popular supplement often used to treat pain and anxiety, after finding it was linked to six deaths in Los Angeles County, but what role the supplement played remains a mystery.
Kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia; 7-OH is a natural psychoactive component found in kratom leaves in trace amounts. But there’s a growing popularity of concentrated versions — offered as tablets, gummies, and liquid extracts — which are synthetic, according to the FDA.
