Hillsborough County commissioners in Florida voted unanimously to ban the sale and distribution of kratom products containing concentrated or chemically altered compounds, including 7-OH. The vote took place Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The ordinance amends the county’s existing rules on synthetic drugs. It covers chemically processed or concentrated kratom products, as well as synthetic derivatives such as MGM-15 and MGM-16. According to WUSF, the rules also provide a penalty for manufacturing, distributing, selling and advertising such products. It is a criminal offense, classified as a misdemeanor.
The ban does not apply to traditional plant-based kratom. Dried leaves used to make tea are exempt, as are products that have not been chemically altered or concentrated to increase potency.
Products with concentrated or synthetic 7-OH are sold in convenience stores, at gas stations, in smoke shops and online. They come in the form of tablets, gummies, capsules or liquid doses. 7-OH occurs naturally in kratom leaves in small amounts, but it can be produced in a much stronger form with effects similar to opioids.
Commissioner Harry Cohen cited data from the medical examiner’s office. According to that data, poisonings involving mitragynine, the main active ingredient in kratom, contributed to 34 deaths in the county over two years. The data does not indicate how many of those cases involved concentrated 7-OH products.
More than 50 people spoke at the meeting. Many described loved ones who became addicted to kratom or died after using it. Some families called for a ban on all kratom. Other speakers, including users of natural kratom, supported restrictions on 7-OH but opposed extending the ban to plant-based products. They called for testing, labeling and safety rules for those products.
Florida has banned the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 since 2023, but the state does not otherwise broadly restrict these products. In July, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier moved concentrated 7-OH products to Schedule 1, the category for substances with a high potential for abuse. According to Axios Tampa Bay, the statewide ban rests on temporary rules, and the county wanted its own ban in case they expire. Sarasota County had earlier banned kratom products.
Source: Tampa Bay Times
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Source: Słoneczne Radio
