BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Health issued an emergency rule on Monday adding three substances related to  7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine, commonly found in Kratom, according to the FDA, to Schedule I of Louisiana's controlled dangerous substances list. 

Schedule I substances are determined to have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use for treatment in the U.S. and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

Placing the substances on the list by emergency rule was necessary to avoid an imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare, according to LDH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein. 

Officials said the substances are potent mu-opioid receptor agonists that carry risks associated with other agonists, including dependence and respiratory depression. 

Louisiana law allows the secretary to use emergency rulings when placement of a substance in Schedule I is necessary to avoid an imminent threat to public health. 

The emergency rule will remain in effect for the maximum period allowed by law or until a final rule is adopted