7-OH Public Comment Deadline: How to File on the DEA/HHS 0.05% Threshold Before July 31

The 7-OH public comment window is open, and it closes July 31, 2026 — a fact buried under this month's Schedule I ban headlines. If you sell, distribute, or buy lab-tested 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), this is the one part of the DEA/HHS package you can still act on, and it is narrower and more consequential than most coverage suggests.

This is not the "should 7-OH be scheduled" debate — that train has left. The comment window is about a single number: the 0.05% threshold that separates a regulated product from a Schedule I substance. Below is exactly what the docket is asking and how to file on regulations.gov before the deadline.

What actually published on July 6

Three related items hit the Federal Register on July 6, 2026, following the DEA's July 1 Notices of Intent:

• DEA docket DEA-1570 (91 FR 40917) — the temporary scheduling action for 7-OH.
• DEA docket DEA-1644 (91 FR 40909) — the companion action covering MGM-15 and pseudoindoxyl.
• HHS RFI, docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232 (FR doc 2026-13608) — a Request for Information issued by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the only piece of this package soliciting public comment.

The effective date for scheduling is framed as "on or after August 5, 2026" — that August 5 date is the earliest the placement can take effect, not a guarantee. We cover that sequencing in our 7-OH scheduling timeline. What that timeline does not cover — and what this article does — is the comment mechanism sitting inside the HHS RFI.

The RFI asks one specific question

Read the RFI carefully and the scope is deliberately tight. According to the Federal Register notice (FR doc 2026-13608, docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232), HHS is seeking comment on whether the 0.05% 7-OH threshold is appropriate. It is explicitly not soliciting comment on whether 7-OH should be scheduled, on a permanent scheduling decision, or on the general merits of kratom-derived products.

That distinction matters for anyone drafting a comment. A submission arguing "don't ban 7-OH" is off-topic and easily set aside. A submission engaging the actual question — is 0.05% the right dividing line, measured how, applied to which product formats — is on-topic and part of the record HHS is building.

Who should consider commenting

Anyone in the chain has standing to submit — the docket is public and open to all. The comments most likely to inform the record are grounded and specific:

• Retailers and distributors can speak to how a percentage-by-weight threshold interacts with real SKUs and lab certificates of analysis, and where the 1 mg-per-product line creates measurement ambiguity.
• Manufacturers and labs can address analytical method, detection limits, and reproducibility of testing at the 0.05% level.
• Adult (21+) consumers can describe the products they purchase and how the threshold, as drawn, would reclassify them.

Keep every comment factual. Describe products by their lab-verified 7-OH content and potency — not by any claimed effect or benefit. Comments that stay in the lane of measurement and product definition are the ones that read as credible.

How to file on regulations.gov — step by step

1. Go to regulations.gov and search the docket ID HHS-OASH-2026-0232 (the RFI document is listed as HHS-OASH-2026-0232-0001).
2. Open the docket and click the "Comment" button on the RFI notice.
3. Write your comment in the text box or attach a PDF. Address the threshold question directly; reference the docket number and the specific point you are responding to.
4. Choose whether to submit as an individual or on behalf of a business/organization — organizational comments carry your entity name into the public record.
5. Submit. You will receive a tracking number. Anything you write becomes part of the public record, including identifying details, so do not include information you would not want published.

The hard stop is July 31, 2026. Agencies are not obligated to accept late comments on a fixed-window RFI, so build in a buffer rather than filing on the final day.

Why this is worth ten minutes

Scheduling of 7-OH is proceeding. What remains genuinely undecided is where the regulated-vs-prohibited line gets drawn and how it is measured — and that line is what determines whether a given lab-tested product is a compliant good or contraband after the effective date. For retailers, a one-degree shift in how "0.05%" is defined can reclassify an entire catalog. Ten minutes on regulations.gov is a low-cost way to put measurement realities on the record while the question is still open.

If you carry or stock 7-OH products, pair your comment with a compliance review of what you sell today. Our retailer compliance guide walks through how to read a certificate of analysis against the proposed threshold and where the measurement gray zones sit.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal, medical, or regulatory advice. It makes no health or efficacy claims about 7-hydroxymitragynine or any kratom-derived product. Products referenced are intended for adults 21 and older. Verify all docket numbers, dates, and threshold figures against the primary Federal Register and regulations.gov sources before acting. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.