JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 18,000 packages of so-called “gas station morphine” have been pulled from store shelves in just over a month, Florida’s Attorney General and Agriculture Commissioner announced at a press conference in Jacksonville, Thursday.
7-OH is the active ingredient in Kratom, but in recent years, products containing pure or highly concentrated 7-OH have been hitting store shelves.
The chemical is an opioid compound, the same type of drug as heroin or fentanyl, which has earned the product its “gas station morphine” nickname.
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier banned the products via emergency rule last month, reclassifying them a Schedule I drugs, the same as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.
“When extracted and when chemically enhanced, it can be 13 times more potent than morphine. And this is what’s been on shelves and gas stations, retail stores, 7-Elevens right next to candy,” said Uthmeier.
Since that August emergency rule, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has worked to pull thousands of products from store shelves.
67 of those stores were within a half mile of schools, and two here in Jacksonville were literally across the street from schools.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says his office’s enforcement efforts are just getting started.
“We’ve gotten about halfway across the state in those efforts and removed I think about 18,000 packages, but by the end of the year we’ll have been through this entire state and get this off of our shelves,” said Simpson.
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And as Simpson’s office takes on 7-OH, it’s also still targeting intoxicating hemp products.
As of late July,155,000 illegal hemp products had been pulled from store shelves in the operation “Safe Summer”.
But Simpson argued that after several years of failed attempts to set concentration limits and other restrictions on products like hemp and Kratom, he argued it’s imperative that lawmakers get something across the finish line next year.
“If you’re a street-level dealer and you’re selling drugs, you’re probably going to jail when we catch you, and our law enforcement. And the same thing should happen with these store owners,” said Simpson.
Uthmeier’s 7-OH ban also needs to be codified by lawmakers in the next session to become permanent, and the Attorney General indicated he’s hopeful the legislature will follow through.
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