As the 60-day Florida legislative session wound to a close, lawmakers had a chance to address the growing prevalence of 7-hydroxymitragynine products in Florida.
They did nothing.
A proposal by state Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, to ban the products died in a Senate committee days before lawmakers closed up shop until 2026. Researchers who study 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, liken the products to opioids such as morphine. They argue they should not be available to consumers.
But available they will remain, in gas stations and smoke shops around the state. Those hoping for better regulation — or virtually any regulation at all — will have to wait until next year.
“I am not for more government, but I am also not for kids being able to go buy gas station heroin on the streets just because they have money in their pockets,” Collins said in an interview. “It’s ridiculous.”
A Tampa Bay Times reporter recently visited four gas stations and smoke shops around the region, finding a wide variety of 7-OH products of various strengths and flavors. According to state law, the products are only legally sold to those over 21.
But the age restriction is essentially the only rule governing 7-OH.
At the core of the debate over how to regulate 7-hydroxymitragynine is kratom, a southeast Asian herb commonly sold in tea shops and highly concentrated extracts. Kratom contains numerous chemicals, called alkaloids, and 7-hydroxymitragynine is the one that most worries researchers who study the plant.
“The active ingredient…is a pure opioid,” wrote Christopher McCurdy, a professor at the University of Florida who studies kratom, of 7-hydroxymitragynine products in an email.
Collins’ measure was a victim of the legislative process. He tried to attach a 7-OH ban to an unrelated bill late in the session but had to abandon the effort because time was running low. Amid infighting between the House, Senate and governor’s office — all controlled by Republicans — the gears of the Legislature at times ground to a halt this year.
In 2023, the Times published an investigation, Deadly Dose, which found that medical examiners have blamed kratom for contributing to hundreds of fatal overdoses in Florida. Collins’ initial proposal was part of a larger effort to regulate the herb and was subject to heavy lobbying from both the 7-hydroxymitragynine industry and traditional kratom business groups.
The most prominent kratom industry group, the American Kratom Association, has called for a ban on 7-hydroxymitragynine products. Many in the kratom industry say 7-OH products should not be considered kratom at all. They note that 7-OH tablets are synthesized to concentrate the chemical to a prevalence not seen in the natural kratom leaf.
The burgeoning 7-hydroxymitragynine industry contends the products are safe and are an important tool in the fight against the opioid epidemic.
But researchers dispute that. Abhisheak Sharma, McCurdy’s colleague at UF, likened one product to “legal morphine.”
Both Sharma and McCurdy consulted Collins on his bill to regulate kratom and ban 7-OH, McCurdy said.
Collins said he’ll sponsor similar legislation next year.
