Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma is calling on the Florida Legislature to make kratom illegal, adding a local law enforcement voice to a statewide debate over the plant-based product.
Kratom remains legal in Florida for buyers 21 and older and can be found on shelves at gas stations and smoke shops, WKMG News 6 reported Friday. The station said Lemma is especially worried about high-dose forms of the product and about what can happen when it is mixed with other drugs.
"The idea that surely the government and society would not allow something to sit on the shelf if it was going to do us harm. I think has been tested over and over again to be absolutely not true," Lemma told the station. He said he believes the issue could be addressed if legislators and the governor treat it as a priority.
Lemma's request is a proposal. Changing the law would take action by the Legislature and the governor.
What the state has already done
Florida has moved against one compound tied to kratom rather than the plant itself. In June, Attorney General James Uthmeier signed an emergency rule expanding Schedule I to cover concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, and related compounds, which can bring felony charges. 7-OH occurs naturally in the leaf only in trace amounts, according to Spectrum News 13.
"This isn't about kratom," Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said at the time, adding that restricting 7-OH should not be read as a campaign against the plant.
