Florida is expanding its crackdown on a byproduct of kratom, known as 7-OH, which can be stronger than morphine, highly addictive and even deadly, officials said Monday.
The state limited sales of 7-OH last year, in an emergency rule that outlawed the sale of 7-OH over 0.04% concentrate, but new products emerged that skirt the emergency rule.
The state’s attorney general James Uthmeier announced a new series of restrictions Monday.
“We are going to make sure that new chemical compounds that are being used to blend or substitute 7-OH derivatives will be included,” he told a news conference in Tampa.
“Florida medical examiners have linked at least 587 overdose deaths to 7-OH and related chemical compound drugs,” he said.
The chemicals covered include 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, 7-acetoxymitragynine, 9-hydroxycorynantheidine, 10-hydroxycorynantheidine, MGM-15, and MGM-16.
The emergency rule says no product may contain more than 1 milligram of these chemicals per gram or milliliter. It also says any product containing any 7-OH or related compounds must also contain at least 100 times more mitragynine by mass. This ensures that super concentrated formulas won’t be sold.
These products are sold in gas stations, or vape shops, or online. They include gummies, tablets, drink mixes, shots, teas, and concentrated liquid extracts.
Brands include Hydroxy, 7Tabz, and 7-OHMZ. They are sometimes marketed as pain relief, and some people who take them believe they can help them stop drugs or alcohol, doctors said.
“They perceive it sometimes as a safer alternative,” said Thomas Nappe, the medical director of inpatient addiction medicine at Tampa General Hospital. The highly concentrated ingredients can be risky, he warned.
“These products become more potent, they become more dangerous, they become much more addictive,” he added. “They are finding themselves suffering from severe dependency, severe tolerance in just a couple of days, and overdose and death is a very real risk,” Nappe said.
People may experience tremors, hypertension, the elevated heart rate, severe anxiety, even seizures.
All ages are affected, from three-month-old babies who are accidentally exposed, to people as old as 97, said Cory Howard, an emergency physician at TGH.
“7-OH is deliberately designed to hide its dangers. It’s often labeled natural or made from a botanical extract. It’s marketed as a remedy for pain and anxiety, and it appeals to children with bright packaging and fruit flavors,” Howard said.
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The Florida Channel
Patti Wheeler talked about losing her son, Wyatt, to the substance.
“In recent years, we’ve seen a rising trend of exposure to these 7-OH products,” Howard added. “In the first four months of 2026, Florida Poison Control has already received 95 cases of calls of 7-OH and other derivatives. At this pace, we’re going to surpass our last year’s numbers.”
Patti Wheeler said she lost her son to the products. He died having a seizure, just weeks after she learned he was consuming a powder, which he’d told her contained a harmless herbal supplement.
“My son Wyatt died after using a kratom concentrate product, something that was 50 to 100 times more powerful than the powder he was taking,” Wheeler said.
“I do not believe that Floridians should be a part of a nationwide experiment involving products that can be purchased in convenience stores and gas stations without the level of scrutiny that we expect from a substance that affects our bodies and minds.”