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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida hemp industry wins another reprieve from regulations this year
A Tallahassee hemp store. (Photo by Mitch Perry/ Florida Phoenix) A year ago, members of Florida's hemp industry were lobbying Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto a bill regulating hemp-derived THC products that many claimed if signed into law would be a devastating blow to their livelihoods. Their mission was accomplished when he did in fact veto the proposal last June. That won't be required this year; the Legislature failed to pass anything on hemp before unofficially ending the legislative session on Friday night (they are expected to return to Tallahassee later this month to deal exclusively with budget-related matters). State Sen. Colleen Burton via Florida Senate Rep. Michelle Salzman via Florida House The central problem appeared to be the substantive differences between the Senate bill sponsored by Polk County Republican Colleen Burton (SB 438) and the House version (HB 7027) sponsored by Panhandle Republican Michelle Salzman. The two measures would have capped the potency of hemp-derived THC products, placed advertising restrictions, and required hemp to be tested by a certified medical cannabis laboratory. But there were some big differences: The Senate bill (like its 2024 version) called for the outright ban of synthetic cannabinoids like Delta-8 and said that the newly popular hemp-infused drinks could only be sold through a retailer holding a liquor license. Salzman's bill in the House did not ban Delta-8. Neither did it call for retailers to have a liquor license, but it did include a 15% excise tax on all hemp purchases. Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said the House bill was better for his industry than the Senate's version, and said he appreciated the work that Rep. Salzman devoted to trying to find the right balance. 'In its final form, we said that it wasn't perfect, but it was a significant improvement on the Senate bill and so in the end nothing passing was better than the Senate bill passing,' Miller said. He's 'hopeful,' he said, that between now and next year's legislative session 'people will realize that the House version is the model to start working from and hopefully produce something that really both protects farmers and consumers at the same time.' 'Honestly afraid' Carlos Hermida, who owns two hemp shops in the Tampa Bay area, says the Senate's ban on synthetic cannibinoids like Delta-8 and Delta-10 would have eliminated most hemp products from his establishments. 'I was honestly afraid that we would have to close down,' he said last week when it became evident there would be no bill this year. 'Of course it will be good for my bottom line. I can still sell drinks, I can sell the products that my customers need, and I can still advertise.' A new element in this discussion from a year ago has been the emergence of hemp-derived THC beverages being sold throughout the state. Burton's proposal would have required sales only at locations licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. Both bills limited the amount of THC in such drinks (5 milligrams per container in the Senate, 10 milligrams per container in the House), while the House bill would have banned consumption of such drinks on the retailer's premises. Those restrictions might work for establishments like ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, a major liquor retail chain, said Michael Smith, co-owner of Herban Flow in St. Petersburg. But it wouldn't work for his two stores, which feature a large selection of THC-infused drinks. 'With [Florida] being such a tourism/hospitality state, these bars are trying to develop server menus and other type of non-alcoholic menus for people to partake and join out with their friends, and the House bill would have taken away on-site consumption completely,' he said. 'Losing that ability to go out there and sell at festivals and farmers markets, that would have significantly hurt us.' During the final committee stop in the House, Rep. Salzman said she was resolute in keeping that provision in her bill, saying that there are no mechanisms to test for intoxication from those THC-infused drinks. 'This stuff has got to be regulated' With Congress largely silent on the issue, it has been up to the states to regulate hemp-derived THC products since the U.S. Farm Bill legalized hemp in 2018. While roughly half the states in the nation have placed some regulations on such products (and some, such as Idaho, have banned the product outright), Florida continues to struggle with such measures. That's a problem, says Ellen Snelling, of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance. 'I'm extremely disappointed,' says said, noting that House Speaker Daniel Perez had convened a special workgroup that met for three days during the first week of the session to learn more about the hemp business from those in the industry. 'I thought, 'This is great. This is going to work this year,'' she recounted. Then Snelling saw the disparate House and Senate bill versions posted. 'As time went on, it just seemed like they weren't going to come to a consensus and be able to get it done. But both bills had some positive things in it, and I just wish there was some way that they have gotten together and gotten a bill passed, because it's past time, because this stuff has got to be regulated.' Florida is not the only state that failed to come up with regulations on hemp-derived THC products this year. In Georgia last month, a bill addressing concerns about high THC dosages passed in the state Senate but stalled in the House, as well. 'It's really a game of whack-a-mole,' said U.S. Hemp Roundtable's Miller. 'Over the course of legislative sessions, we've seen things pop up and we try to hammer them down, and sometimes we miss but in general I think the movement is towards robust regulation as opposed to bans. I think with this new hemp beverage industry there's a lot more excitement about that, and so I think you're going to see more Legislatures really trying to come up with solutions that provide for strong access to consumers while ensuring protection of the products.' It should be noted that both Senate and House bills passed unanimously in all of the committees in which they were heard, and the full Senate voted unanimously in support of that bill when it came to the floor last month. The House version never came to the floor of that chamber. 'We will continue to debate how hemp affects public health and our economy,' Salzman told the Phoenix in an emailed comment last week. 'There are legal gaps we need to address in the future and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure these products are safe and protect consumers, while still allowing Florida farmers to thrive.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill that will regulate the hemp industry passes unanimously in Florida Senate
(Photo by) For the second year in a row, the Florida Senate has approved new regulations on hemp-derived THC products in Florida, although this time the proposal includes limitations on the industry's hottest new product, THC-infused beverages. Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen Burton has led the charge in attempting to place some restrictions on these intoxicating products, which have emerged since the state legalized hemp in 2019. Since then, some states have banned all such products, while others have heavily regulated them. Burton said that people have asked her why is she trying to regulate an industry that has been established in Florida for years. She said hemp-derived THC products are 'causing harm to Floridians.' 'We have retailers in the state of Florida that are selling products that are intoxicating,' she said. 'They are selling products that are putting adults and children in the hospital. And, sadly, they are selling products that are causing the deaths of Floridians.' She alluded to a Jacksonville television station's website, which reported this week on a Georgia woman who believes her 25-year-old son's death from heart disease was caused by ingesting Delta-8 gummies. 'That young man did not know that what he was ingesting was going to hurt him,' Burton said. The bill (SB 438) bans all Delta-8 products and limits the amount of Delta-9 hemp-derived products to no more than five milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per container. It limits the amount of THC in hemp-infused drinks to five milligrams per container. Such drinks could only be sold through a retailer holding a liquor license. It requires that each final batch of hemp extract must be tested in a certified marijuana testing laboratory before it may be sold in the state, with results verified and signed by two laboratory employees. The lab would determine whether the product meets the definition of hemp and hemp extract. During a combined Florida House workgroup formed to study the hemp industry earlier in the session, the owner of a Lakeland testing lab that contracted with the Florida Department of Agriculture to test cannabis and hemp products appeared. He testified that his lab tested 50 out of 53 flower hemp samples from different smoke/hemp shops across the state that were over the legal 0.3% Delta 9 THC limit, and found contaminants in these products. 'These are very intoxicating products,' said Southeast Florida Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell. 'They're addicting products at the end of the day. And people need to know that. … We need to make sure that people know what they're buying. And we have seen so many fly-by-night places selling hemp — 'safe hemp' — and the THC levels are higher than the medical marijuana that you can get in a dispensary.' The bill prohibits businesses and food establishments permitted to sell hemp products from advertising 'in a manner' visible to the public from any street, sidewalk, park, or other public place. Florida law already bans marketing THC-hemp in a way that might attract children. The bill expands that definition to include containers displaying toys or other features that target children and products manufactured in a form or packaged in a container that bears any 'reasonable remembrance to a branded food product in a way that the product could mistaken for the branded food product, especially by children.' And it says that all such products must be placed out of the reach of customers, either in a controlled area accessible only to employees or in a locked display case, excluding hemp-infused beverages. A similar bill passed unanimously in the Florida Senate a year ago, but Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed it following heavy lobbying from the hemp industry. Grateful for the reprieve, several hemp entrepreneurs helped fund DeSantis' campaign to bring down Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized the recreational use of cannabis for adults 21 and over. Jacksonville Democrat Tracie Davis, who co-sponsored the bill, acknowledged in her closing statement that the bill wasn't significantly different than last year's version. 'This was a bill that was vetoed,' she said. 'There's not that much that's different from last year's bill that was vetoed.' The vote in favor was unanimous. The House version (HB 7027) is now sponsored by Panhandle Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman. It has two more committees to go through before reaching the floor of that chamber. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislative crackdown on Florida's hemp industry heads to Senate floor
Hemp being grown indoors for flower to produce CBD oil. (Florida A&M University hemp pilot project report to Florida Senate Agriculture Committee) New regulations on hemp-derived THC products in Florida have passed unanimously in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, and now go to the full Senate for consideration. This is Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen Burton's third attempt in three years to tighten rules around what has become a billion-dollar industry since the plant was legalized for sale in Florida in 2019. Her 2023 bill was ultimately watered down to essentially banning hemp-derived products from being sold to anyone under 21, and adopting rules ensuring they were not marketed to be attractive to children. The 2024 version, passed in the Senate but only narrowly in the House, imposed strict strict limits on THC levels in hemp products and a complete ban on the sale of delta-8 THC — but it was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. This years's bill (SB 438) is similar to last year's — with more restrictions. It would forbid any amount of synthetic cannabinoids, including Delta-8. The amount of Delta-9 hemp-derived products couldn't be more than five milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per container. It limits the amount of THC in hemp-infused drinks to just five milligrams per container. Such drinks could only be sold through a retailer with a liquor license — a provision strongly supported by lobbyists representing the beer and wine industry. 'This bill to me takes an appropriate stance, if you will, on the regulation of products that are sold in Florida,' Burton said. 'It still allows hemp-infused products to be sold, but it regulates them.' The bill would ban any business from selling hemp products within 500 feet of a school or a daycare facility. If enacted, businesses would not be able to advertise the availability of such products in a manner visible to the public from any street, sidewalk, park, or other public place. DeSantis was heavily pressured by the hemp industry last year to veto Burton's bill. In his statement announcing that veto, he complained the measure would 'impose debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses.' Later, multiple news stories reported that the hemp industry helped him financially work to defeat Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational cannabis in the state for adults 21 and older. That perceived quid pro quo was noted at Thursday's committee hearing by Alex Petrick, owner of Florida Hemp Distribution. 'If the exact same bill passed this year again, and it makes it back to DeSantis' desk, will he stand by his word and veto it again because it is a 'regulatory hurdle?'' he asked. 'Or do we think he'll pass it this time because Amendment 3 is not on the ballot.' Jessica Spencer, who served as director of advocacy for the Vote No on 3 campaign last year, pointed to a proliferation of gas stations and smoke shops advertising 'THC' and 'No medical marijuana card needed' in their storefronts. 'This unregulated, non-FDA-approved intoxicating THC products that are synthesized from hemp and are easily accessed at our gas stations and convenience stores, are in fact endangering children and families,' she said. Manatee County Republican Jim Boyd acknowledged a sense of déjà vu. 'Here we go again, but here we go again for the right reasons,' he said. 'This was a good bill last year. I believe it's a good bill this year.' The measure passed out of the Senate Fiscal Committee unanimously — no surprise, since every senator supported Burton's bill last year on the floor. The question now is when does the House start moving its version (HB 1597), sponsored by St. Lucie County Republican Dana Trabulsky. House Speaker Danny Perez certainly takes the issue seriously. He convened a special workgroup that spent three days researching the hemp industry in Florida during the first week of the legislative session earlier this month. Trabulsky's bill was sent to four House committees, none of which have scheduled a hearing for it yet. There are still five weeks left in the 60-day session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
