TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBS12) — Attorney General James Uthmeier signed an emergency rule expanding the ban 7-OH in Florida, and criminalizing it as a controlled substance.
The rule, announced during a Monday press conference, places several 7-OH-related compounds into Schedule I, allowing law enforcement to seize products and pursue felony charges for manufacturers and retailers selling illegal formulations.
In a news release, Uthmeier highlighted the dangers of the compound:
Today I signed an emergency rule because these dangerous concentrated 7-OH products present an imminent hazard to the public safety of Floridians—especially our children and teens. By expanding the rule to include new 7-OH related compounds to Schedule I, we are removing these addictive poisons from store shelves, protecting families, and holding manufacturers and sellers accountable.
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7-OH, sometimes referred to as “legal morphine” or “7-Hydroxy” occurs naturally in kratom in trace amounts but is often sold in concentrated forms at gas stations, vape shops and online under brand names such as Hydroxy, 7Tabz and 7OHMZ.
State officials say the products act on opioid receptors and can cause respiratory depression, rapid addiction and sever withdrawal.
To date — medical examiners have linked at least 587 overdose deaths to the substances since 2013, while poison control centers have reported hundreds of recent exposure cases.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said inspectors have removed over 23,000 illegal 7-OH products from the shelves, and there’s still a long road ahead.
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Violations of the new rule can carry criminal penalties of up to 30 years in prison.