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U.S. Food and Drug Administration

New law prohibits Florida minors from buying cough syrup

in Statewide by

Minors won’t be able to buy some cough syrup brands over the counter as a new law to curb youth substance abuse took effect. The News-Journal reports Senate Bill 938 took effect Monday. It’s a measure prohibiting manufacturers, distributors and retailers from selling medicines containing dextromethorphan to those under 18, and requiring anyone who appears under the age of 25 to provide identification upon checkout. The ingredient is a cough suppressant, and is used in many over-the-counter medicines, but has…

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Under Donald Trump, Florida’s premium cigar industry could escape job-killing FDA regulations

in 2017/Top Headlines by

On the verge of being snuffed out by Obama administration regulators, Florida’s traditional and culturally distinct premium cigar industry has a chance at new life. Late last week, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the incoming chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, met with President-elect Donald Trump and submitted a list of 232 items that could be repealed immediately after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. “We must undo Obama’s harmful regulatory regime that has hurt hardworking Americans across the nation,” the group said in…

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Florida Health Department update on medical pot – long on jargon, short on new info

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

An update offered by the Florida Department of Health on the approaching availability of medical marijuana was rife with technical and legal language, but really broke no new ground other than to further emphasize the strictness of rules and regulations regarding the use of pot by patients with various medical problems. The main thrust delivered by Christan Bax, director of the DOH Office of Compassionate Use, was that the transition to cannabis from contraband to a legitimate medical treatment is…

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Tell the FDA what you fear more: Zika, or GMO mosquitoes?

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

What are you more afraid of, the Zika virus, or a plan to kill the disease-carrying mosquitoes by releasing genetically engineered bugs in Florida? The public has until midnight Friday to weigh in. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will then decide whether the biotech firm Oxitec can release its lab-bred mosquitoes near Key West. Oxitec plans to release non-biting male mosquitoes, modified to produce offspring that don’t survive. Fear is common in the nearly 2,000 comments posted online so…

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FDA vows to crack down on Kratom, seizes $400K shipment

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is vowing to continue the fight to stop the use of the botanical Kratom, a plant-based product used as a homeopathic treatment that is beginning to concern authorities and healthcare professionals in Florida. PainMedicineNews.com reports that FDA officials recently seized 90,000 bottles of the dietary supplement manufactured under the label RelaKzpro and distributed by Dordoniz Natural Products LLC. The estimated value of the detained product is more than $400,000. “We have identified Kratom as…

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Tampa Bay Times finally arrives at the kratom party

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

Somebody has to be first, right? Last month, Florida Politics reported on the surge of kratom, a plant-based product used as a homeopathic medicine that has begun to concern Florida authorities. Traditionally, kratom leaves — an herb indigenous to Thailand and Malaysia — are chewed to treat a variety of ailments: reducing pain, an anti-diarrhea agent, and to reduce dependence on opiates. Kratom is also thought to give users energy and decrease symptoms of opiate withdrawal, as well as (allegedly) extending…

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The end for SaintPetersBlog

Ever since I acquired the rights to the perfect domain for my efforts — FloridaPolitics.com — I knew that one

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