Missouri AG talks 7-OH efforts, public safety priorities at KC Board of Police Commissioners meeting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers Kansas City, Missouri. She highlights public safety solutions on the local and state level. Share your story idea with Alyssa.

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In a rare appearance, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway highlighted public safety concerns, especially 7-OH, at Tuesday's Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners meeting.

KSHB 41 has investigated and followed the impact of the synthetic opioid drug since last year.

Hanaway's office is in strong opposition to the sale of the drug statewide.

KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson asked the attorney general, "We know the impact it (7-OH) has had in Kansas City, but can you comment on the widespread impact you've seen this drug have on the state of Missouri?"

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"The coroners around Missouri reported 161 overdose deaths related to 7-OH, and that's just a stat," Hanaway replied. "The phone calls in our office from moms who said, 'My son or daughter was already in recovery, and they were told 7-OH would help with opioid recovery, and now they're just an addict again.'"

Her office has discovered reports of minor children who ended up in the hospital after purchasing the drug from gas stations.

"It's just really been heartbreaking to see this substance was legal, being marketed as a supplement, and how many lives it's destroyed," Hanaway said.

The next step, she said, is advocating for Missouri lawmakers to pass a bill banning the drug entirely.

Fabian Rosales

Missouri lawmakers proposed several bills at the beginning of the 2026 legislative session to ban 7-OH and attempt to regulate its parent drug, kratom.

Kansas City, Missouri, banned the sale of 7-OH within city limits in February and regulated the process for vendors who want to sell kratom.

The state of Kansas banned both kratom and 7-OH in July. Possession or sale of the drugs is a felony offense.

American Shaman, based in Kansas City, was the largest producer of both drugs in the Midwest. The company agreed to suspend sales this year.

The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office has also advocated against the drugs.

"These substances, which cause similar hallucinogenic effects and problematic impacts on brains, have to go from our community, or at minimum be better regulated," Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said Tuesday.

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Hanaway also discussed harsher enforcement against illegal slot machines, stricter regulations on selling hemp and THC, and public integrity reform, citing the recent removal of the Ray County prosecutor for misconduct and conflicts of interest.

KSHB 41's Alyssa Jackson also asked the attorney general about sexual abuse charges against former Cass County Deputy Michael Burke.

Burke is charged with rape, sodomy and child molestation against a child under 12 years old.

Hanaway said her office didn't receive a referral for this case.

"I don’t know [the] precise facts of that one," Hanaway said. "Almost weekly, we have cases referred from local prosecutors that are sexual assault cases, many of them against minors. They're often the toughest cases we try because it becomes word of an adult versus the word of a child."

Burke returns to court Wednesday for a bond hearing.

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