My name is Casey Gerke, and I am a resident of Grand Rapids, MI. I am writing to express my urgent opposition to the proposed federal scheduling of 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as a Schedule I controlled substance.
This action is not only scientifically unjustified, but it will directly endanger the lives of patients like myself, who depend on 7-OH daily to manage severe, treatment-resistant conditions. I am not writing to excuse addiction or abuse; I am writing because 7-OH is the only substance that allows me to function, work, and survive.
I suffer from chronic, debilitating pain alongside ADHD, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and gastrointestinal issues. 7-OH is the only compound I have found—prescription or otherwise—that effectively manages all of these conditions with minimal side effects. I do not take it to get high. I take it to walk, to think, to be present in the world. Without it, I cannot function.
The idea that this substance poses a public health threat is unfounded. Here are the facts:
7-OH is a partial μ-opioid receptor agonist with strong G-protein bias, meaning it activates pain relief pathways without significantly triggering the mechanisms responsible for respiratory depression, the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths. There are zero deaths or overdoses from 7-OH, and no lethal dose has been found even in rodent studies. It does not cause body toxicity, and there have been no found adverse side effects, unlike Kratom. 
It has a safer pharmacological profile than mitragynine, the primary alkaloid in kratom that converts in the liver to 7-OH. Ironically, kratom remains legal in many states. Kratom only works for many people because of that conversion—banning 7-OH while allowing kratom is pharmacologically and logically inconsistent.
Because it binds to receptors so strongly it has potential to be used like methadone to prevent harmful opiods from binding and causing harm. I urge you to push for its availability to prevent opiod deaths.