Attorney General James Uthmeier has asked an administrative law judge to dismiss a challenge to his emergency rule that bans the sale and manufacture of 7-hydroxymitragynine — a concentrated byproduct of kratom commonly called 7‑OH.

Uthmeier issued the rule on Aug. 15, adding the alkaloid to the state’s list of most dangerous drugs and saying the ban was necessary “to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety.” The emergency rule took effect immediately and will remain in place for one year while Uthmeier works with the Legislature to make the ban permanent. Concentrated 7‑OH had been sold at smoke shops across the state.

Last week, companies that sell 7‑OH and several users filed a complaint with the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing the emergency ban is invalid. The petitioners contend Uthmeier’s office failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures and that the rule “was not adopted under a procedure which was fair under the circumstances.”

In a motion to dismiss filed Tuesday, lawyers for Uthmeier told Administrative Law Judge Robert Cohen the rule complied with state requirements and asked him to throw out the challenge. They argued the attorney general need only consider specific factors when finding an “imminent hazard to the public safety” — factors tied to potential abuse and a history and pattern of abuse, as well as the scope, duration and significance of that abuse.

The petition questioned aspects of the emergency rule, including whether there were “less onerous alternatives” to a ban on 7‑OH. Uthmeier’s motion counters that the complaint “exceeds the scope of a permissible challenge” under Florida administrative law. The state’s lawyers said an administrative law judge “looks only to the reasons set forth by the agency as the basis for adopting the rule to determine its validity, and it is not the court’s ‘responsibility to determine whether other means may have been more appropriate.’”

The attorney general’s filing also says the complaint “goes well beyond … permissible parameters,” accusing the petitioners of “pleading as disputed facts what the petitioners would do if they were king for a day.”

The challenge was filed on behalf of The Mystic Grove LLC, which operates two Florida retail stores; Green Brothers Wholesale Inc., a distributor of hemp, kratom and other smoke-shop products; and six individuals identified only by initials — K.T., B.M., J.E., A.G., A.R. and M.D. The complaint includes personal accounts: it says M.D. fought opioid addiction for years and that while kratom powder initially helped reduce dependence, “it was not until he discovered 7‑OH tablets that he was able to achieve lasting control over his addiction.”

Uthmeier’s lawyers argued the complaint violates administrative procedures by withholding the users’ names while disclosing “lengthy, intimate discoverable facts” about their families, health and addictions. They wrote that the anonymous petitioners “then command this tribunal that they will testify only at the hearing, in a secret, confidential session outside of the public,” and added there is “no authority for petitioners’ attempt at such secrecy.”

Florida in 2023 barred the sale of kratom (botanically known as Mitragyna speciosa) to people under 21, but bills to regulate or ban its sale entirely have not passed. 7‑OH is one of kratom’s most potent active compounds: it exists at low levels in whole kratom leaves but is much stronger in isolated or concentrated forms, which are often marketed as natural or health supplements.

Uthmeier’s emergency ban came weeks after the Trump administration took initial steps to add 7‑OH to the federal list of dangerous drugs as part of a broader effort to address opioid addiction.

A hearing on the challenge is scheduled to begin Dec. 3.

This article was adapted from an original report published on wusf.org. All rights belong to the original publisher.