Jonas Heath was a 19-year-old music major at Oklahoma State University with dreams of playing in an orchestra pit. In April 2026, an autopsy found he died of toxicity caused by 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, along with kratom and a derivative of the compound. His mother, Rae Heath, believes he started with kratom and moved to 7-OH less than two months before he died.
According to ABC13 Houston, Rae Heath says Jonas sounded out of it the last time they spoke, on her birthday. She now notices the colorful packaging of these products displayed near gas station registers during long bike rides, a detail she has carried with her since her son's death. Last month she launched the nonprofit 7-OH Truth Project to educate other families about the drug, and she is now in discussions with Texas lawmakers about a bill that would criminalize kratom extracts and synthetic 7-OH.
What Exactly Is 7-OH
Traditional kratom comes from a plant native to Southeast Asia, and the station's report notes that 7-OH occurs naturally in dried kratom only in trace amounts. The concentrated, synthesized version sold in tablets, gummies, drink mixes and shots is mass-produced by chemical labs, far more potent than the plant it is derived from. The FDA warns that 7-OH is up to 13 times more potent than morphine.
Wendell Campbell, a drug intelligence officer at the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, told the outlet that kratom in small doses can help someone focus, but in large doses it can act as a sedative. He said 7-OH can quickly cause dependency and opioid use disorder, and that dependency tends to require daily use. Reversing an overdose is also tougher than with many other opioids, Campbell said, noting it now takes four to six doses of Narcan to reverse a single 7-OH overdose.
A Death Toll That Keeps Climbing
The numbers behind this crisis have moved fast. The Texas Department of State Health Services recorded just 14 kratom- and 7-OH-related fatalities in 2017; by 2023 that figure had jumped to 114, and the state counted 111 such deaths from January through August 2026 alone, per the same report. An FDA graphic reportedly charts 7-OH as the next rising wave of the opioid epidemic, following prescription pills, heroin and fentanyl.
Rae Heath argues the substance is more dangerous than drugs many parents fear their kids will experiment with, like marijuana or THC. Texas law already prohibits kratom products with more than 2% 7-OH concentration, but enforcement has remained weak enough to keep these products accessible on store shelves, the outlet reports. In April, the Texas attorney general filed a lawsuit against two California-based online kratom retailers accused of selling products containing 86% to 96% 7-OH alkaloid content, far above the state's cap.
Los Angeles County's Enforcement Experiment
California offers a glimpse of what aggressive enforcement might look like. After Los Angeles County recorded 10 local 7-OH overdose deaths from 2025 into early 2026, authorities ramped up action, issuing health alerts about overdose cases tied to the synthetic compound, according to a Los Angeles County Department of Public Health notice warning residents and providers about the risks of synthetic 7-OH.
Dr. Brian Hurley, interim director and medical director of the county's Bureau of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control, said officials conducted 5,000 inspections countywide and identified and removed kratom products from nearly 500 locations. Since that enforcement push began, Hurley said, Los Angeles County hasn't recorded any more 7-OH-related deaths, and he connected the decline in overdoses to the crackdown.
Deaths Beyond Texas
The toll has shown up well outside Texas and California. Rapper Tay Keith was found dead in his Nashville apartment in June 2026, and ABC News reported, citing an autopsy, that he died from a mix of drugs including 7-OH. In September 2026, two University of Mississippi students were found dead on the same day, and federal prosecutors arrested a local smoke shop owner and his son on allegations they supplied the students with 7-OH.
Oklahoma has tracked a similarly grim pattern. State officials say more than 50 kratom-related deaths occurred statewide between January 2025 and June 2026, including 14 in Tulsa County, according to News On 6. The state's medical examiner's office detected a kratom-related alkaloid in roughly 57 cases over that same window, and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics reported more than 100 kratom-related overdoses over the past two years after seeing almost none for nearly a decade, the station separately reported.
The Push for 'Jonas's Law'
Rae Heath's proposed bill would classify kratom extracts and synthetic 7-OH as Schedule I controlled substances, the same category as heroin and LSD, per ABC13's reporting. It would also impose felony charges on manufacturers and unauthorized sellers, add civil penalties, and require mandatory overdose reporting. She expects the measure to be filed during the upcoming legislative session; Texas lawmakers can begin filing bills in November 2026 for the 2027 session, and Rae Heath plans to be at the Texas Capitol advocating for what she calls Jonas's Law.
A similar bill considered by the Texas Senate during the 2025 legislative session did not pass. Separately, the DEA filed notices in July 2026 to temporarily place 7-OH and three related synthetic compounds into Schedule I, with those notices formally published in the Federal Register on July 6 and the proposal open for public comment, according to News On 6's reporting. The Department of Justice has said HHS recommended action when a product's 7-OH content exceeds 1 milligram per gram in solids or 1 milligram per milliliter in liquids, or when the mitragynine-to-7-OH ratio falls below 100 to 1.
Mike McDaniel, executive director of the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, said law enforcement cannot address addictive drugs in communities alone. He described the Houston region as unified in its approach, with the Houston HIDTA partnering with addiction treatment professionals and the medical examiner's office. McDaniel said he is optimistic that positive changes will soon help address 7-OH deaths.
For Rae Heath, the fight has become personal and ongoing. She said she hopes Jonas's Law and a ban on 7-OH will help spare other families the loss hers has endured.
