“Legal Morphine” is available in Florida. Do officials act?

Around the Tampa Bay area, consumers can step into smoke shops and gas stations to buy substances that experts say mimic powerful opioids.

No prescription is required. Products are virtually unregulated. Bills that curb their sales have repeatedly died in Tallahassee. State and federal regulators did little to intervene.

Scientists say that a substance called 7-hydroxymitraginine or 7-OH poses a public health threat. Powerful chemicals are found in low quantities in Kratom plants, with some 7-hydroxymitraginine products evoking herbs in the packaging.

But they are far stronger and far more dangerous than the Kratom Leaf, experts say.

“I am very concerned about these semi-synthetic products and believe that we can take society in another opioid pandemic direction,” said Abhisheak Sharma, a leading Kratom researcher at the University of Florida.

With 7-OH being more ubiquitous in Florida and more curious consumers trying out the product, Tallahassee lawmakers are once again looking for ways to regulate it along with Kratom.

Republicans in both rooms have proposed banning pure 7-hydroxymitraginine products.

“They are incredibly inherently dangerous to our community,” said Sen. Jay Collins, Sen. Jay Collins in an interview. “We have to go further than this.”

The first bill introduced by Collins died in a Senate committee. However, he plans to attach an amendment banning 7-OH to another bill he still hopes to pass, the aide said. The legislative session will end on May 2nd.

Kratom itself is usually sold as a dusty, green psychoactive powder and comes from leaves of Southeast Asia. A 2023 Tampa Bay Times survey found hundreds of people in Florida died from Kratom-related overdose, even as the industry advertised its products as safe.

Kratom contains many compounds known as alkaloids, and 7-hydroxymitraginine is the one that worries researchers the most. In recent years, startups have begun selling tablets and tablets that segregate chemicals, supplying them in much larger and more powerful quantities than they exist naturally.

During the newsroom investigation, reporters purchased 20 kratom products and tested them by researchers at the University of Florida to determine their strengths.

One was a packet of 7-hydroxymitra aginine pill purchased online from the company 7Ωhmz. The results warned Sharma, who compared the product to “legal morphine.”

More than a year later, businesses are selling more and more similar products in both stores and online.

And they’re getting even stronger.

A Times test showed that the 7Ωhmz tablets had 15 milligrams of 7-hydroxymitraginine. Dozo, sold in Tampa, claims to be more than three times stronger.

Many products, retail for around $20 on some pills, come in bright packaging and promote a variety of flavors, such as “Chill Berry”, “Mintopia”, and “Wild Mango”.

Kratom researchers are concerned about the chemical profile of the compound, but they show it is highly addictive. Testimonies about the people’s struggle with 7-OH are not difficult to find on Reddit’s online addiction forum. Consumers warn that it’s difficult to quit pills and compare drawers to those who have experienced them after using heroin.

Industry groups supporting owners of 7-hydroxymitraginine claim that the product is safe.

JD McCormick, chairman of the American Health Alternatives Association, said in an email that 7-hydroxymitraginine does not interact with the opioid brain.

But Christopher McCurdy, another leading Kratom researcher at the University of Florida, disputed it.

Low-dose studies of animals show that 7-OH has a strong potential for abuse and addiction, he said.

Another prominent trade group in the 7-hydroxymitraginine business, Holistic Alternative Recover Trust, says its mission is to combat the American opioid crisis with a new set of tools, including 7-OH. The group, lobbying in Tallahassee this year, argues that products should be available to provide more options to consumers.

However, federal law says that products that claim to help pain or opioid withdrawal are considered drugs and must be approved for use. No 7-hydroxymitraginine products have experienced an extensive US Food and Drug Administration drug approval process.

Instead, companies often hint at their effectiveness without directly telling their purpose.

Opia, a company that can be offered on the Pinellas Park Wellness Store, appears to suggest opioids by its name. “Bonus” is also a general shorthand for another opioid, Percoset.

At the Tampas Morke Shop, customers can purchase packages of four Dozo perks. Maximum Strength Tablet: 50 mg 7-hydroxymitraginine per tablet. (Suggested serving size: 1/4 of dime-sized pills.) In the package, the company is advertising offering “instant relief.”

Distributed by Tampa Company, Pop7tabz offers a “quick release formula” for a “super powerful” 30 milligram tablet. (According to the product packaging, each tablet contains two 15 milligram servings.) Its website states that the product offers “pain relief.”

McCurdy, a researcher at Kratom at the University of Florida, said there is no human or animal research to show that the 7-hydroxymitraginine products on sale are safe. He said 7-OH companies should be subject to FDA drug regulations.

Similar to Kratom, 7-hydroxymitraginine products are classified into the regulated gray area. The FDA does not ban compounds, but is not sold as a dietary supplement or drug under existing guidelines.

STNR Creations, which offers a line of 7-OH tablets, has stickers on products that say “This is a dietary supplement.” Under federal regulations, we must inform federal regulators of our intention to sell the product as a supplement. But that’s not the case, according to the federal database.

Opia did not respond to email comments requests. The reporter submitted a question to Dozo, 7Ωhmz to the company that distributes Pop7tabz via an online form on the company’s website. No one responded.

The proposed law in Florida would control the amount of 7-hydroxymitraginine that could be found in Kratom products. Similar laws defended by the American Kratom Association have passed around 12 states.

Many in the Kratom industry say 7-OH products should not be considered Kratom.

“These are serious synthetic products and we have to go,” Mac Haddow, the association’s chief lobbyist, said in an interview.

Collins, a Tampa Republican, called for drastic restrictions on Kratom and related products earlier this year. The current Kratom rule in Florida is that it cannot be sold to people under the age of 21.

Under Collins’ law, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would have earned nearly $4 million to hire two dozen employees accused of ensuring that Kratom products were tested by an independent laboratory for compliance with state law. It also limits the amount of Mitragynine, the active ingredient in Kratom that companies can pack into their products.

The agriculture sector is already working to implement food safety standards for Kratom products, a spokesperson wrote in an email. But without better federal oversight, the department says there is little that can be done.

“There are issues beyond the jurisdiction of our department and the legal authority to address,” wrote spokesman Aaron Keller.

The FDA did not respond to an emailed request for comments.

The broader Kratom regulations require waiting for another time. Currently, only the ban on 7-hydroxymitraginine is on the table. The Senate is scheduled to hear the bill in its committee on Tuesday.

If there is no revision this year, Collins said he will try again in 2026.