Free Community Bulletin Board for Golden Acres, FL

Over 17,300 packages of the drug 7-OH have been removed from Florida retailers in 23 counties since the state banned the substance from commercial sale in August.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson issued a news release explaining that state agents have inspected stores across the state and removed the drug from shelves as directed.

"These 'wellness' products are nothing more than vape shop morphine, and we will continue using every tool at our disposal to educate and protect families, and make sure these products have no place in our communities," Simpson said.

The drug 7-OH was readily available at smoke shops, vape stores, convenience stores, and gas stations before the ban. It is a derivative of the Kratom plant.

Researchers are proposing a new hurricane rating system to better communicate the storm's potential impact.

“We know that wind only accounts for less than 10% of fatalities in general, but yet our current category system is based on wind alone. Storm surge accounts for closer to 50% and rainfall accounts for closer to 30%,” said Jennifer Collins, a hurricane researcher at the University of South Florida.

The new scale is called the Tropical Cyclone Severity Scale and it provides a different category for each hazard such as wind, storm surge, and rainfall, along with a combined final category.

"Frequently, people use the storm’s category to decide whether to evacuate, that’s incredibly dangerous, because if they hear it’s only a tropical storm or Category 1, too often no alarm bells go off, and they see no cause for concern," 

On Wednesday, Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that the 1987 statewide open-carry ban on firearms is no longer constitutionally enforceable, requiring gun laws to be rooted in historical tradition.

The case stemmed from the July 4, 2022, arrest of a man in downtown Pensacola carrying a visible, holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution. The three-judge panel in Escambia County vacated the man's sentence.

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he will not appeal to the state Supreme Court, making Florida an open-carry state. Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the decision and said the Second Amendment "says what it means and means what it says."

Several elected officials from Parkland—the site of the state's deadliest school shooting—criticized the decision as dangerous. Restrictions on carrying firearms in sensitive locations, such as schools and courthouses, will remain in effect.