Hillsborough Bans Concentrated Kratom: Why 7-OH Is Already a Florida Felony

In its natural form, 7-OH makes up less than two percent of the alkaloids in the kratom leaf, according to the DEA. The products built around it are something else: in a DEA survey of 51 of them, 39 were chewable tablets and 9 were liquids, with 7-OH doses ranging from 1 to 700 milligrams. On Tuesday, Hillsborough County voted to ban these products in its unincorporated areas. Separate from that county ordinance, a person caught with one in Pinellas, Pasco or Hillsborough can already face felony charges under state law.

Since August 18, 2026, Florida has treated concentrated 7-OH as a Schedule I drug, listed with the opiates. The charges that follow from that are felonies, some of them first degree, and they reach buyers as well as sellers. This post walks through the county ordinance, the state rule, the lab question that decides whether a product is illegal at all, the DUI side and the federal order the DEA says is coming as early as this week.

What Hillsborough Passed on November 10

According to WUSF’s report, commissioners voted 7 to 0 after about two hours of public comment from more than 50 speakers. The ordinance amends the county’s existing synthetic drug ordinance. It prohibits producing, manufacturing, distributing, selling, displaying for sale, marketing and advertising kratom products with concentrated or chemically altered compounds, including 7-OH and the synthetic derivatives MGM-15 and MGM-16, in the unincorporated county.

Tampa Bay 28 reported the test the county uses. A product counts as chemically enhanced or altered if lab analysis shows more than 1 milligram of 7-OH per gram of a solid or powder, or per milliliter of a liquid, or less than 100 parts mitragynine for each part 7-OH. Whole-leaf kratom that has not been concentrated is exempt, which FOX 13 also reported. Stores that sell kratom must post a sign saying sales to anyone under 21 are prohibited.

The penalty is local and modest by comparison. Both WUSF and Tampa Bay 28 reported that a violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in the county jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. Tampa Bay 28 reported that the ordinance takes effect once it is filed with the Florida Department of State.

State Law Already Makes Concentrated 7-OH a Felony

Section 893.035 of the Florida Statutes lets the Attorney General add a new substance to Schedule I by emergency rule when it is needed to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety. Once that rule takes effect, section 893.035(8)(a) says the substance is deemed included in the schedule, and every provision of chapter 893 that applies to that schedule applies to it.

The rule in force now is emergency rule 2ER26-2, effective August 18, 2026. It replaced a version that took effect July 1, 2026. It places 7-acetoxymitragynine, MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I under section 893.03(1)(a), the opiate list. It places 7-OH there too, with a limit: no product may have more than 1 milligram of 7-OH per gram for a solid or powdered product, including capsules, or 1 milligram per milliliter for a liquid, and any product containing 7-OH must have at least 100 parts mitragynine for every part 7-OH by mass.

Because 7-OH sits in section 893.03(1)(a), the penalties in section 893.13 for that list apply:

• Possessing it, unless it was lawfully obtained from a practitioner or by a valid prescription, is a third degree felony under section 893.13(6)(a), punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
• Buying it, or possessing it with intent to buy, is a second degree felony under section 893.13(2)(a)1., punishable by up to 15 years.
• Selling or delivering it, or possessing it with intent to sell, is a second degree felony under section 893.13(1)(a)1.
• Possessing more than 10 grams of a section 893.03(1)(a) substance, “or any mixture containing any such substance,” is a first degree felony under section 893.13(6)(c), punishable by up to 30 years.
• Selling it within 1,000 feet of a convenience business is a first degree felony under section 893.13(1)(e)1. Section 812.171 defines a convenience business as a store primarily selling groceries, or groceries and gas, that is open at any time between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and is licensed by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. It excludes businesses that are primarily restaurants, stores with at least 10,000 square feet of retail floor space, stores that always have at least five employees on the premises between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and stores where the owner or the owner’s family works those hours.

The 10-gram line deserves attention. The statute counts a mixture, so on its words the weight question can turn on the whole product a person was holding, not only the 7-OH inside it. How that weight line applies to 7-OH products is an argument to be made in a real case, with the lab report in hand.

Separate from all of this, section 500.92, the Florida Kratom Consumer Protection Act, makes it a second degree misdemeanor to sell or give any kratom product, including whole leaf, to a person under 21.

The Line Is a Lab Number

Under both the state rule and the county ordinance, whether a 7-OH product is illegal depends on two measurements: how many milligrams of 7-OH it holds per gram or milliliter, and the ratio of mitragynine to 7-OH. A product with no more than 1 milligram of 7-OH per gram, or per milliliter for a liquid, and at least 100 parts mitragynine to each part 7-OH meets the rule’s 7-OH limits. The other listed compounds, 7-acetoxymitragynine, MGM-15 and MGM-16, are controlled at any amount. For 7-OH, a label or an officer’s field impression cannot settle the question. A laboratory has to identify the compound and show that the product crossed one of those lines, the concentration or the ratio.

That matters because these compounds are hard to tell apart. In its October 14, 2026 notice, the DEA wrote that mitragynine pseudoindoxyl is an oxidative metabolite of 7-OH and that “such closely related compounds require specific method and instrumentation for accurate identification.” The rule also changed in August: the July version listed 9-hydroxycorynantheidine, 10-hydroxycorynantheidine and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, and the current version does not. Which compounds a lab tested for, and under which version of the rule, are questions to ask in any of these cases.

In a 7-OH case, the lab file is the place to start: the method, the calibration, whether the result is a measured concentration or only a positive identification, and whether the ratio was ever measured at all.

7-OH, Kratom and DUI

Section 316.193(1)(a) makes it DUI to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a chemical substance listed in section 877.111, or “any substance controlled under chapter 893,” when affected to the extent that normal faculties are impaired. Once concentrated 7-OH became a Schedule I substance, impairment by it fits that definition.

Two points matter in these cases. First, section 316.193 sets no per se level for any drug, so the State still has to prove that the driver’s normal faculties were impaired, and a drug in the blood does not prove that by itself. Second, whole-leaf kratom is not on the controlled list. The DEA’s own notice says 7-OH “exists as an active oxidized metabolite of mitragynine in vivo,” meaning the body makes some 7-OH from the main alkaloid in ordinary leaf kratom. So a blood result showing 7-OH raises a real question of whether it came from a concentrated product or from legal leaf kratom.

The Federal Order That Can Publish November 13

On October 14, 2026, the DEA published a notice of intent to temporarily place 7-OH and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in federal Schedule I when either one alone, or the two combined, is above a threshold: more than 1 milligram per gram of a solid or per milliliter of a liquid, or less than 100 parts mitragynine to each part of 7-OH, of mitragynine pseudoindoxyl or of the two combined. Those are the same numbers Florida’s rule uses for 7-OH, though the federal version also reaches mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, which the current Florida rule does not list. The notice says the order “will be published in the Federal Register on or after November 13, 2026.”

The same notice says a separate DEA order placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I with no threshold on August 26, 2026, and that it stays in effect until it expires or the new order is published and the earlier one is withdrawn. The DEA also wrote that its order does not preempt a more restrictive state law. The notice says that when the order is issued, it will impose federal Schedule I controls and criminal sanctions on anyone who handles or possesses 7-OH above the threshold.

Why the County Wrote Its Own Ban

An emergency scheduling rule under section 893.035 does not last forever. Section 893.035(9) requires the Attorney General to report each year’s rules to the Legislature by March 1, and each reported rule expires the following June 30 unless the Legislature writes it into chapter 893. WUSF reported that the current rule expires June 30, 2027. An earlier 7-OH rule, from August 2025, was set to expire June 30, 2026, and a 2026 bill that would have banned 7-OH lost that provision and failed, as WUWF reported in March. A new rule, 2ER26-1, took effect July 1, 2026, and was replaced by the current rule, 2ER26-2, on August 18.

FOX 13 reported that county officials acted because the state order could expire next year. Until then, the state rule is the one that produces felony charges, and the county ordinance adds a misdemeanor for sellers in unincorporated Hillsborough.

If You Were Arrested With 7-OH or a Kratom Product

A 7-OH charge turns on lab questions an arrest report does not answer. What I look at first:

• The date of the arrest. Which version of the rule was in force, and whether the product was even covered on that date, can decide the case.
• The lab report. Whether the lab measured the 7-OH concentration and the mitragynine ratio, or only identified the compound, and what method it used.
• The weight. Whether a first degree charge depends on counting the whole product as a mixture, and how the weight was taken.
• The search. How the officer came to find the product, and whether the stop and the search were lawful.
• For a sale charge, the person’s role: who ordered the product, who set it out for sale and what they were told about it.
• For a DUI, the driving, the roadside exercises and any drug recognition evaluation, measured against what the blood result can and cannot show.

Do not explain to the officer what you bought, where you bought it or how much you took. Those answers can become evidence in the case.

If you are facing a drug possession charge, a sale or delivery charge or a drug DUI, I defend these cases in St. Petersburg and across Tampa Bay, and my page on challenging the drug evidence covers the lab side in more depth. A strategy session is where we go through the arrest report and the lab file together.

Common Questions

Is kratom legal in Florida?

Under state law, whole-leaf kratom is legal for adults 21 and over, though local rules vary; FOX 13 reported that Sarasota County has banned kratom products. Under emergency rule 2ER26-2, 7-OH becomes a Schedule I controlled substance when a product has more than 1 milligram per gram or milliliter, or less than 100 parts mitragynine to each part 7-OH. 7-acetoxymitragynine, MGM-15 and MGM-16 are Schedule I without a threshold. Selling any kratom product to someone under 21 is a misdemeanor under section 500.92.

Is possessing 7-OH a felony in Florida?

Yes, for products over the rule’s threshold. Possession of a section 893.03(1)(a) substance, unless lawfully obtained from a practitioner or by a valid prescription, is a third degree felony under section 893.13(6)(a), and possession of more than 10 grams of such a substance or a mixture containing it is a first degree felony under section 893.13(6)(c).

What does the new Hillsborough ordinance do?

It bans producing, selling, displaying, marketing and advertising concentrated or chemically altered kratom products, including 7-OH, MGM-15 and MGM-16, in unincorporated Hillsborough County. News reports describe violations as misdemeanors punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. Whole-leaf kratom is exempt.

Can you get a DUI for kratom or 7-OH in Florida?

Driving while impaired by a substance controlled under chapter 893 is DUI under section 316.193(1)(a), and concentrated 7-OH is now one. The State still has to prove impairment of normal faculties. Whole-leaf kratom is not controlled, and the DEA has noted that 7-OH is a metabolite of mitragynine, so a 7-OH blood result raises the question of whether a concentrated product was used at all.

When does the Florida 7-OH rule expire?

Under section 893.035(9), a rule reported to the Legislature by March 1 expires the following June 30 unless the Legislature adopts it into chapter 893. WUSF reported that the current rule expires June 30, 2027.

Further Reading

The sources behind this post, so you can read what I read.

1. Hillsborough bans sales of concentrated and chemically altered kratom products, WUSF, Nov. 11, 2026
2. Hillsborough County unanimously approves ban on synthetic kratom compound 7-OH, FOX 13, Nov. 10, 2026
3. One calls kratom lifesaving. Another blames it for devastating loss. Florida county approves new restrictions, Tampa Bay 28
4. Emergency rule 2ER26-2, Florida Department of Legal Affairs, effective Aug. 18, 2026
5. DEA notice of intent: temporary placement of 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl above a specified threshold in Schedule I, Federal Register, Oct. 14, 2026
6. This synthetic opioid has a fuzzy future in Florida, WUWF, Mar. 22, 2026
7. Section 893.13, Florida Statutes, prohibited acts and penalties
8. Section 893.035, Florida Statutes, control of new substances by rule
9. Section 316.193, Florida Statutes, driving under the influence
10. Section 500.92, Florida Statutes, Florida Kratom Consumer Protection Act

This post is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The law discussed is Florida emergency rule 2ER26-2; sections 316.193, 500.92, 775.082, 812.171, 893.03, 893.035 and 893.13 of the Florida Statutes; the Hillsborough County ordinance approved November 10, 2026, as reported by WUSF, FOX 13 and Tampa Bay 28; and the DEA notice of intent published at 91 Fed. Reg. 65370 (Oct. 14, 2026), as of November 12, 2026.