WASHINGTON, D.C. — Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet today applauded Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey for taking emergency action to restrict the sale of kratom products across the Commonwealth and protect young people from increasingly available, addictive products sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and convenience stores.
The Healey administration announced Thursday that Massachusetts will temporarily place all forms of kratom into Schedule I under state law, rather than limiting its action to concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). The emergency order will take effect following a 14-day notice period and remain in effect for up to one year.
“Governor Healey deserves tremendous credit for recognizing the full scope of this problem and acting decisively to protect Massachusetts families,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions. “For too long, kratom products have been allowed to proliferate in gas stations, smoke shops, and convenience stores with consumers having little idea what they are buying, how potent these products are, or how addictive they can be.”
“Massachusetts also understands something Washington, D.C., cannot afford to ignore: this problem does not begin and end with 7-OH,” Sabet continued. “Focusing exclusively on one kratom compound risks leaving other addictive products on store shelves while giving consumers the false impression that everything else is safe. Governor Healey is putting public health ahead of industry pressure, and federal policymakers should take notice.”
FDPS have emerged as leading national voices urging policymakers to address the full range of addictive kratom products rather than narrowly targeting concentrated 7-OH.
“We have seen this playbook before: an addictive product spreads rapidly, an industry forms around it, and policymakers are told to regulate around the edges rather than confront the underlying problem,” Sabet added. “We applaud Governor Healey for refusing to wait until this crisis gets worse. Other governors—and federal regulators—should follow her lead.”
FDPS’s National Leadership on Kratom
– Helped drive a Senate letter advocating for a ban on kratom. FDPS helped draft the March 2026 letter from Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to then-FDA Commissioner Makary urging CSA scheduling of the whole kratom leaf and 7-OH, and recruited signing senators. Nine additional members signed: Blackburn, Boozman, Britt, Budd, Crapo, Daines, Justice, Padilla, and Shaheen.
– Shaped the letter’s core argument. As National Review reported, the senators wrote that scheduling only 7-OH would leave addictive products on the shelf and tacitly declare them safe, the same argument FDPS had been making since 2025
– Held the line through the DEA action. When DEA issued its notices of intent on July 1, 2026 to temporarily schedule 7-OH above a 0.05% threshold plus three synthetic derivatives, Dr. Sabet told the New York Times that both 7-OH and mitragynine can be lethal and that singling out 7-OH misleads the public. FDPS was a key restrictionist voice contesting the threshold carve-out.