Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the state is expanding a 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) emergency ban at a Tampa General Hospital media event. The substance has been sold at gas stations and retail stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur chemists have analysed that it can be 13 times or more potent than morphine,\u201d Uthmeier said at the gathering. \u201cSince 2013, Florida medical examiners have linked at least 587 overdose deaths to 7-OH and related chemical compounded drugs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In August 2025, the state classified 7-OH as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. The emergency rule made it illegal to sell, possess or distribute any isolated or concentrated form of the drug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the Attorney General\u2019s website, 7-OH is \u201ca chemical compound found naturally in the kratom plant.\u201d A plant native to Southeast Asia, kratom is commonly used to reduce pain, opioid withdrawal and anxiety. Isolated or concentrated forms of 7-OH \u201care much more potent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
These products are \u201cfrequently marketed as natural or wellness supplements but can lead to addiction, overdose and other serious health effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the state was able to \u201cshut down a lot of these dangerous drugs,\u201d Uthmeier added, individuals tried to \u201cskirt the system\u201d and \u201cdodge, deviate and come up with new ways to profit over public safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the expansion, the state will \u201cmake sure that new chemical compounds that are being used to blend or substitute 7- OH derivatives are included.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forms such as 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, 7-acetoxymitragynine, 9-hydroxycorynantheidine, 10-hydroxycorynantheidine, MGM-15 and MGM-16 will now be impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo product may contain more than 1 milligram of these dangerous chemicals per gram,\u201d he explained. \u201cAny product containing any amount of 7-OH or its related compounds must also contain at least 100 times more regular mitragynine by mass.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
People who disobey the expansion rule can receive up to 30 year prison sentences. Uthmeier added that 7-OH products have not been authorized for medical purposes in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToo often we see in our emergency room patients coming through experiencing overdose,\u201d said Tampa General Hospital executive vice president and president Melissa Golombek at the Monday event. \u201cWith access to 7 \u2013 OH at every convenience store, we are having kids and teens purchase this without understanding the true addiction and highly lethal ability that this drug has.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tampa General Hospital emergency medicine physician Dr. Cory Howard added that \u201cwe have seen a rising trend of exposure to these 7 \u2013 OH products.\u201d The substance is often found in \u201cconsumer-friendly formats,\u201d such as gummies, tablets, drink mixes, teas and capsules.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He explained that \u201c7-OH is deliberately designed to hide its dangers.\u201d Frequently, it \u201cis marketed as a remedy for pain and anxiety.\u201d Additionally, the substance \u201cappeals to children with bright packaging and fruit flavors.\u201d Brand names include\u00a0Hydroxy, 7Tabz, 777 Jackpot Alkaloids, Roxy 7-OH and 7OHMZ.<\/p>\n
Patti Wheeler has experienced the negative impacts of kratom concentrates firsthand. Her son Wyatt lost his life in October 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She explained at the Monday gathering that he initially purchased a powder as an alternative to alcohol. Six weeks later, Wyatt \u201cdied in his brother\u2019s arms having a seizure\u201d after consuming a kratom product.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople deserve to know what they\u2019re putting in their body,\u201d she said. \u201cThey deserve proper labeling. They deserve honest information and families should not find out about kratom when it\u2019s too late.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the state is expanding a 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) emergency ban at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-316898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}