TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The Food and Drug Administration wants to ban opioid-like substances sold at gas stations and convenience stores.
“Let’s not allow another wave of the opioid epidemic to catch us blindly again,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty McCleery.
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Leaders from the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said products containing the chemical are recipes for public health disasters.
According to the report, trace amounts of 7-OH, previously known as 7-hydrodimitraginine, are listed in Kratom products. Kratom is prohibited in six states and Sarasota County. Kratom is frequently advertised and sold in smoke shops around the Tampa Bay Area.
8 On your part, Florida Representative Michael Owen asked if Kratom is still a problem today.
“Ah, absolutely. Just because this product is kind of wild west, it’s actually getting worse by that day. 1753935322″I’m so happy to see the FDA doing something.”
Owens proposed a bill last year to ban high-level 7-OH.
The American Kratom Association, or alias, said there is an industry that attempts to misuse the market and deceive Kratom consumers.
“These are not traditional Kratom products or safe Kratom products. They are designer opioids that used the Kratom name as a marketing smoke screen,” said aka Mac Haddow. “It’s very similar to what happened in the hemp industry where you get a Delta 8 and a Delta 10, which are synthetically manipulated and responsible for the requests to remove such kinds of intoxicating products. The same thing was happening in the Kratom industry.”
The FDA said their recommendations depict the amount of traces from the synthetic concentration.
“We’re not targeting kratom leaves or crushed kratoms, we’re targeting concentrated synthetic byproducts, which are opioids,” McCleery said.
The Comprehensive Alternative Recovery Trust advocates for plant-based recovery products. In a statement from their website, they said, “7-oh could be a valuable harm reduction tool that should remain an option for the hundreds of thousands of consumers who rely on it.”
