Nov. 12, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: What customers ought to know primarily about L.A.’s crackdown on 7-OH and kratom merchandise is that there’s a higher path than prohibition (“L.A. County stores must immediately stop selling kratom and 7-OH, health department warns,” Nov. 7).
States equivalent to Rhode Island have carried out regulatory buildings for 7-OH requiring dosage requirements, correct labeling, testing and age restrictions. Though the present dosage limits are severely restricted, it exhibits that good regulation to keep away from overcriminalizing hundreds of thousands of customers of 7-OH and kratom merchandise is feasible, if not vital.
L.A. County’s reported overdoses on these merchandise are troubling, however much more so once we think about that each unlucky case examined by the Los Angeles Instances revealed cocktails of different substances, each authorized and unlawful, within the toxicology screens.
What this proves is that we want clear guidelines, secure laws and a clear market so customers know what they’re getting.
Yael Ossowski, Washington, D.C.
This author is deputy director of shopper advocacy group Client Selection Heart.
