Florida is among the states that have seen big decreases in opioid overdose deaths, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preventionanalyzed by Stateline. The data show broader drops in opioid OD deaths, which experts say is due at least in part to a shrinking fentanyl supply that has made the drug weaker and less deadly, along with stepped up volunteer efforts to get more people into treatment. Numbers and rates of opioid overdose deaths fell significantly and fairly broadly between 2023 and 2026, the CDC reported. There were just over 46,000 opioid overdose deaths in the year ending with October across the nation, barely more than half the peak of about 86,000 in June 2023 and the lowest since April 2017. Florida saw a 59% drop in opioid OD deaths to about 2,300 in the 12 months that ended in October of 2025, from over 5,700 in the 12 months that ended in June of 2023. Deaths fell the most in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Florida since June 2023, according to the data. Stateline / CDC

By banning nearly every kratom product, save for unprocessed leaf kratom, the state has functionally outlawed the entire consumer market.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy issued an emergency ruling Dec. 12 banning most kratom products for 180 days, a misguided public health mistake that substitutes political panic for sound policy.

🛑 STOP THE 7-OH BAN – DEFEND WELLNESS, FREEDOM, AND CHOICE

Every day, people struggling with pain, addiction, and withdrawal rely on 7-OH, a natural compound derived from the kratom plant, to stay off opioids, manage chronic pain, and reclaim their lives. Veterans, moms with chronic pain, and people in recovery from alcohol and opioid abuse say it's the only thing that’s worked for them when everything else failed.

The November 4 elections ignited a flashing red light for Republicans. Counties that voted for President Trump in 2024 flipped blue just a year later. The results serve as a painful reminder that the Republican coalition is tenuous and fragile. One wrong policy move could fracture it.

Despite these cautionary indicators, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appear intent on reviving one of the biggest unforced errors of Trump’s first term: consumer prohibition under the guise of “public health.”

WASHINGTON, DC – A diverse coalition of consumer advocacy groups, free market organizations, drug policy reformers, and public policy advocates announced today their firm opposition to proposed measures to prohibit and ban kratom-derived products, including 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH).

In a letter addressed to the House Judiciary Committee, the coalition warns that such restrictions risk undermining public safety rather than protecting it.

Warning labels and rules governing the strength of 7-OH would improve safety without stripping people of the freedom to manage their pain in whatever way works best for them.

After decades of living with chronic pain, I finally found something that helps. Last year, I started taking 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a concentrated version of a chemical found in the kratom plant.

Did you ever smoke? I did, for a long time (too long). For the first few years, I deluded myself with the idea that I could “stop anytime I wanted,” though never really tested that theory. Then I did test it and failed, repeatedly and regularly, for years. The reasons to quit were constant and obvious, the reason to postpone really doing it were fluid and based on how addicted I was and whatever I could come up with in order to justify another pack or week. “Tough week at work coming up, something due. Would be stupid to quit before that,” was a regular excuse. It was always empty, but that’s how addiction works.