We have been asked by liquor stores and restaurants to set up some rules for the sale of these products.
By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
Florida lawmakers are debating the proposal for the third time in a year to regulate THC hemp products. The industry is now worth more than $1 billion in the Sunshine State.
As well as banning Delta-8 and limiting the level of Delta-9 in hemp products, to 5 mg per serving, and 50 mg per package, Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen (SB438) has included for the very first time, rules on hemp-infused drink, which is a growing trend in the last year.
This proposal limits the THC content per can or bottle to 5 milligrams. The proposal would prohibit the sale of these drinks in any other locations than those that are already authorized to sell alcohol, and add additional restrictions.
Burton introduced the legislation to the Senate Agriculture Committee in the afternoon on Monday.
Some people have criticized this provision.
Caitlyn Smit, co-owner and manager of Herban Flow St. Petersburg (which bills itself as Florida’s first nonalcoholic bottleshop), said: “We built Herban Flow to be a place where you can buy nonalcoholic drinks. It’s a bit against our mission.”
Michael Smith, her husband and cofounder, told the reporter that she was five years sober. He said that it would be unfair to regulate their store as an alcohol store, when they are not.
It’s about the social buzz, not how high one can go. The THC beverage is all about getting social and having fun again.” He added that this provision “truly kills small businesses”.
‘They look like you and they look like me’
The liquor industry supports the idea of regulating hemp-infused alcohol like alcohol.
Jared Ross of the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association stated that some, but not all his members had begun to sell hemp-infused beverages. “We have a system in place with alcohol that takes public safety into consideration, and…we would like to see this treated similar to alcohol, and that’s why.”
Chas Bailes is CEO of ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, the largest liquor retailer in Florida, and supports Burton’s bill. He said that THC-infused drinks sell well in Florida and are popular with all demographics. He said, “They are like you or me.”
Bailes said that although he had not consumed these drinks, he believed they affected people differently. He said that “two milligrams could mean five milligrams to you.” You can’t compare it with ounces.
Scott Ashley, president of Wine & Spirits Distributors of Florida, said the only missing component of the bill is who pays for the regulation of hemp-derived drinks. He said that the alcohol excise is $7.50 per gallon. Florida has never had a non-taxed intoxicating recreational beverage.
The bill of Sen. Burton would eliminate the requirement for hemp products and hemp extracts to be tested in an independent lab. Instead, these would be tested within a medical marijuana testing laboratory (CMTL). The tests are used to determine whether the hemp product is in compliance with the law, that it is accurately labeled and free of contaminants.
The testimony heard in a House special committee earlier this month to find out more about hemp in Florida showed that many products were tested in Lakeland by CMTL and found the THC levels in the majority exceeded the federal Delta-9 limit of 0.3 percent. They also contained large quantities of contaminants.
George Fernandez of Modern Canna Labs, who is the same owner as that lab, has repeated these stats on Monday.
He declared, “This is cannabis masquerading itself as hemp.”
Restricted Advertising
Bill would prevent businesses or food establishments that are permitted to sell or extract hemp from displaying advertising visible from any public space, such as a street, sidewalk or park. Burton explained that her cosponsor Tracie Davis of Jacksonville, a Democrat, was looking to add this into the proposal.
The third time in a year, Sen. Burton is leading a campaign to regulate hemp-based products. These have become wildly popular since the federal Farm Bill of 2018 made them legal. As the federal farm bill did not include any regulation, each state has passed its own.
In Georgia last week, lawmakers approved a ban on THC-infused drinks. A second measure limits hemp-based products such as Delta-8. Neither measure, however, has reached the governor’s offices yet.
Florida’s legislature passed regulations on hemp last year. However, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida, vetoed this bill. In his veto letter, he said that while “commendable,” the measure would have imposed “debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses and almost certainly fail to achieve its purposes.”
Burton’s Bill is however being accelerated this session. The bill has one last stop in the committee schedule before it reaches the Senate floor. It was unanimously approved by Agriculture Committee in Monday’s afternoon.
The most compatible bill filed in the House to her bill is HB 1597 by Fort Pierce Republican Dana Trabulsky. The bill hasn’t yet been heard in any committees.
Florida Phoenix published this article first.
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Brendan Cleak provided the photo.