Drew Dixon
Attorney General James Uthmeier says Florida is immediately banning the substance 7-OH, an acronym for hydroxymitragynine.
Uthmeier said he is invoking an executive order to ban the drug, which he says is an extension of the opioid crisis. The drug 7-OH was readily available at smoke shops, vape stores, convenience stores and gas stations before the ban in Florida. It is a derivative of the plant Kratom, which is cultivated generally in Asian countries and has been drawing increasing attention as use of the substance is growing.
“We are taking executive action to prohibit and reschedule 7-OH. It is chemically manipulated in a way to where it is actually very dense and actually, I’m told by medical experts, it can be up to 13 times more potent than morphine” Uthmeier said at a news conference in Tampa.”
“It is highly addictive and it can be easily overdosed.”
The Florida Attorney General was flanked by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, who endorses the move in the Sunshine State.
“This is not just like an opioid. It is an opioid,” Makary said. “You can go into any vape shop and buy it.”
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson also backs the move. He said law enforcement officials and regulators will start inspecting stores to see if products containing 7-OH are still on the shelves. He added that retailers should start removing those products immediately.
The development drew sharp pushback from the industries that use and develop 7-OH. Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART) officials said the decision to ban the drug in products was an overreaction in Florida.
“This decision ignores the science,” said Jeff Smith, National Policy Director for HART, in a news release sent to media outlets Wednesday. “According to the FDA’s database, there are zero confirmed deaths linked to 7-OH alone, and just eight adverse events ever reported, even with over half a billion adult uses. If 7-OH were truly the threat being claimed, the data would show it. It doesn’t.”
When asked at the news conference what data they had to support the claimed lethal threat 7-OH poses, Makary acknowledged that such data is scant in the FDA.
“We have no good statistics,” Makary said. “We just haven’t had research on this. … The time to do this is not after hundreds of thousands of kids have died.”
Uthmeier said that’s the point of enacting the emergency executive action. “We’re going to save lives on the front end.” He noted that it will be immediately illegal to sell the drug but added there will need to be clarification on possession.
Smith said he and associates with HART are outraged at just such action with no serious proof of issues.
“Emergency scheduling is meant to address immediate, demonstrated dangers, not to eliminate market competitors under the guise of public health,” Smith said. “The Florida AG’s action today may serve the interests of Kratom lobbyists, but it doesn’t serve the people of Florida who deserve safe, regulated options — not political theater.”
Smith went on to say HART will step up lobbying efforts to convince Florida legislators to overturn the ban and revise state regulations that will cover safe use for both 7-OH and Kratom in Florida.
