About this project
Alabama Substance Watch is an educational resource about 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), MGM-15, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, and other kratom analogues sold in Alabama — the concentrated, semi-synthetic products behind most of the recent enforcement action and health concerns. Plain kratom leaf/extract is covered here too, since it's separately illegal under the same Alabama law, but it isn't this site's main focus. This site does not publish a public list of businesses — see "Why there's no public list of businesses" below for why.
- Legal status
- 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and mitragynine (plain kratom's primary alkaloid) are both named individually as Schedule I controlled substances in Alabama, since 2016 (Ala. Code § 20-2-23). The law doesn't distinguish by concentration or form — it covers plain kratom leaf exactly the same as concentrated 7-OH extracts and semi-synthetic analogues like MGM-15, which don't occur naturally and are chemically derived from 7-OH.
- State enforcement
- March 25, 2026 — the Alabama AG issued a statewide cease-and-desist order against retailers selling these products, warning Alabama "will not be a marketplace for dangerous, illegal substances."
- Penalty for selling
- Felony prosecution, inventory/asset seizure, and loss of business licenses.
Why this exists
These products are frequently sold under unrelated brand names, marketed as harmless relaxation aids, and placed next to energy drinks at checkout counters — often without any indication of what's actually in them. This is especially true of concentrated 7-OH products and lab-derived analogues like MGM-15, which are far more potent than the plant material they're derived from and are what's actually driving recent overdose and dependency concerns nationally. Community members are often the first to notice a new product on a shelf, long before it shows up in a state enforcement action. This site exists to make it easy to act on that — by explaining the law clearly and pointing people toward the agencies that can actually do something with a report.
Why there's no public list of businesses
An earlier version of this site published a public, map-based list of businesses reported for selling these products. That approach had a real downside: a public "where to find it" list is just as useful to someone looking to buy the product as it is to someone trying to stop its sale. This site no longer does that. It's purely educational now — it focuses on explaining the law clearly and making it fast and easy to report a specific business directly to real law enforcement, using the tools on the Report to Law Enforcement page.
What we don't do
- We don't publish a public list, directory, or map of businesses.
- We don't collect tips or reports ourselves — see the Report to Law Enforcement page for the real channels to report a business.
- We are not a law firm, and nothing on this site is legal advice.
Contact
Press, legal, or removal requests: alabamasubstancewatch@protonmail.com