Hamilton Morris Documentary Takes Viewers Inside the CBD American Shaman Lab Where 7-OH Is Made
Film arrives as the HHS public comment period on the proposed 7-OH threshold closes Friday, July 31
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A documentary by journalist Hamilton Morris on the industrial synthesis of 7-hydroxymitragynine has passed 243,000 views in its first day, with more than 9,500 likes on his 291,000-subscriber channel. Morris describes it as the first documentation of the process. The film arrives as federal regulators propose restrictions on 7-OH.
"The Chemistry of 7-OH" runs 18 minutes and was shot inside CBD American Shaman's Kansas City facility. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Request for Information, docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232, closes Friday, July 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET. A Drug Enforcement Administration order placing the compound above a specified threshold into Schedule I cannot issue before August 5, 2026. More than 8,900 public comments have been filed.
WHAT THE FILM SHOWS
Morris was given unrestricted access. Cameras follow kratom extract through oxidation in a 2,000-liter vessel, HPLC analysis, solvent recovery and purification.
The access was deliberate. In the film, the company's founder, Vince Sanders, describes opening the facility to reporters as criticism mounted: "Come on, see what we're doing. Nothing hidden here... I'd be happy to show you exactly how we make it."
The film is not one-sided. It includes segments comparing 7-OH to opioids, critics calling it dangerously addictive, and users describing their experience. Morris states his position:
"Even if you hate it, even if you think it's terrible, even if you think no one should ever take it, prohibition is not a good solution because it will interfere with science."
THE THRESHOLD
The HHS notice focuses on two questions: whether the proposed threshold, or a different one, is supported by scientific data, and whether it should be measured differently. It is not a comment period on permanently scheduling 7-OH, or on the safety or usefulness of kratom-derived products.
The threshold is 0.050 percent by dry weight for botanical material, and 0.050 percent by weight or volume, or more than 1.00 milligram per article, for synthetic and processed forms. The DEA notice states it "was adapted from the definition used by the Department of Health and Human Services," and includes no dose-response analysis.
An FDA assessment cites Sharma et al. (2025): in 341 kratom products, 7-OH by weight ranged from below quantitation to 0.21 percent, mean 0.01 percent. Brown et al. (Journal of AOAC International, 2026) measured 22 to 75 milligrams per gram dry weight in products misbranded as kratom. The two use different denominators.
CBD American Shaman does not oppose regulation and is asking the agencies how the threshold was derived. Sanders, in the film:
"As long as we're allowed to exist, I don't mind whatever the regulations are, how high that bar might be. We'll meet them. And the people that can't meet them, then maybe they shouldn't be in it."
DEA issued a similar notice in 2016 and withdrew it that October. Policy groups including the Cato Institute, R Street Institute and Reason Foundation published 2026 analyses questioning temporary Schedule I placement for 7-hydroxymitragynine.
AVAILABILITY
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3e1aFyw6v4
Comment process: https://action.cbdamericanshaman.com
MEDIA CONTACT
Liz Zarins, Second Summit PR
(410) 868-7602
ABOUT CBD AMERICAN SHAMAN
CBD American Shaman is a Kansas City-based manufacturer of hemp and botanical products. 7-hydroxymitragynine is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any use, and no therapeutic claims are made here. The company's alkaloid products are not sold in Missouri. The company has a commercial interest in this proceeding.
SOURCE CBD American Shaman
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