Florida attorney general bans kratom ingredient

Bea Lunardini, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 13, 2025

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TAMPA, Fla. — Attorney General James Uthmeier said Wednesday that his office is reclassifying concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products as a Schedule 1 drug in an effort to remove the product from stores in Florida.

Uthmeier, invoking his office’s ability to create rules in the face of a “true public health emergency,” said at a news conference at Tampa General Hospital that the policy was effective immediately. The rule makes it illegal to sell, possess or distribute 7-hydroxymitragynine products, known as 7-OH.

Uthmeier did not clarify at the conference or in a statement afterward whether people could be prosecuted for possession of 7-OH products.

Commonly found in gas stations and convenience stores, 7-OH products have heavily concentrated amounts of a compound found naturally in the kratom plant. These products, usually sold as pills, are up to 13 times more potent than morphine, said Cory Howard, the associate medical director of Florida Poison Control in Tampa.

Howard said Florida Poison Control received 191 calls in the last year related to 7-OH products, and calls increased by 14% in the last three months.

Uthmeier’s move to get 7-OH products off shelves in Florida comes two weeks after federal health officials recommended a national ban.

Marty Makary, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said 7-OH could start a “fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.” He said at the news conference that the federal government sent warnings to companies illegally distributing 7-OH products and stores selling them.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said during the news conference that his agency would be responsible for enforcing the state ban on 7-OH products. He said his department had filed complaints against some of the more than 5,000 stores selling 7-OH products in Florida, but his agents hadn’t been able to act until the rule went into effect today.

Simpson said he would dispatch agents to stores “in the coming days” to seize 7-OH products and issue warnings to sellers. If stores are caught selling 7-OH products again, he said, there will be “other actions taken” to enforce the state’s rules.

Uthmeier said 7-OH products in particular present a threat to the state’s public health because their packaging is often geared toward children, and they are sold in vape shops and gas stations near schools.

“How are we going to beat our adversaries like China if our next generation is all drugged up on these products?” he said. “It’s clearly something more potent than morphine that should not be sitting on a shelf next to a packet of Skittles.”

Because 7-hydroxymitragynine is a part of the natural kratom leaf, 7-OH products are only legally sold to those over 21.

Lawmakers weighed a ban on 7-OH earlier this year, but the proposal died amid industry lobbying.

Uthmeier said he hoped the Legislature would “do a deep dive” into 7-OH because it is responsible for finalizing drug restrictions.

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