Florida man survives kratom product overdose, warns others
Wes Griggs overdosed on a product sold at a gas station. Now a state ban on the synthetic opioid 7-OH is set to expire June 30.
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida ban on a synthetic opioid said to be 13 times stronger than morphine is set to expire June 30, after state lawmakers failed to make the ban on 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) permanent.
7-OH exists in trace amounts in the kratom plant, which is native to Southeast Asia. Experts say the derivative has a high potential for addiction and abuse.
Products labeled as kratom are easily accessible in gas stations and smoke shops across the country.
Investigative Reporter Kylie McGivern spoke with a survivor who is now sharing a warning against the products, he says he never got.
Wes Griggs' story begins back in 2019, when he was shot in the back and later hospitalized in two car crashes.
"The opioids that were prescribed, the pain meds, I didn't want to do. I didn't want to do them forever. But walking around with chronic pain, sometimes when you go and you go into a gas station, and you see something right there that's 'all natural supplement', 'plant-based', you know, a healthy, medicinal-like substance, you're like, 'Oh, I can try that'," Griggs said.
He turned to a product labeled as kratom, not knowing it contained 7-OH.
"I felt relief. And I was thinking, this is quite something that, you know, I just bought this at a gas station and it works better than a prescription," he said.
In August, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an emergency rule, making it illegal to sell, possess or distribute 7-OH in the state.
"It is a significant painkiller. It has been proven to be highly addictive and easily can be overdosed” Uthmeier said at a news conference announcing the ban, held at Tampa General Hospital.
Experts raising awareness on addiction associated with energy drinks containing kratom
The Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Dr. Marty Makary, stood beside the AG, supporting the move.
“Our focus is not on the kratom leaf. Our focus is not on kratom. There's the kratom leaf, which has trace amounts of 7-OH. And then there is synthetic concentrated kratom, which is popping up in vape stores all over America, and we need to know what's going on," Dr. Makary said.
Experts say to think of kratom products like alcohol. 7-OH in kratom is like alcohol in a non-alcoholic beer. There are trace amounts. But the percentage of alcohol in a Seltzer differs from that of a craft beer, wine, or hard liquor. It's all alcohol, but the concentration is different. That's the issue with products labeled as kratom. Unlike alcohol, there is no federal regulation identifying the potency of the product.
Speaking about 7-OH, Dr. Makary said, “This is not just like an opioid... it is an opioid. It is scientifically meeting the criteria of an opioid, and yet you can go in a vape shop in America almost on any corner and buy it like a cup of coffee.”
Griggs did.
On March 10, Griggs said he took a kratom product he thought was safe, after Florida's emergency ban on 7-OH had taken effect. He got gas, got back in his car, and drove to Sophros Recovery, an addiction treatment program in Tampa.
"I walked into treatment, and next thing you know...I fall asleep," Griggs said.
Sophros Recovery staff confirmed to the I-Team it took two doses of Narcan to revive him. Griggs said he woke up surrounded by paramedics, "in complete fear."
He had been sitting in a chair during a group session when he lost consciousness.
"I never in a million years thought that would happen to me," Griggs said. "And that's just the danger behind it."
