Three months after the Legislature passed a crackdown on the state's hemp market (SB 1698), the legislation was finally advanced to Gov. Ron DeSantis amid strong speculation that he may veto the priority package of GOP Sen. Colleen Burton.
If signed, it would impose restrictions on what the industry can offer and how it must be packaged.
For starters, it would cap the permissible amount of delta-9 THC in hemp extract to 5 mg a serving or 50 mg a container. While that limit is more than the 2 mg and 10 mg limits in the bill as it was passed by the Senate, it's still something that would force changes in full-spectrum products.
Meanwhile, the language proposes bans on a series of non-CBD compounds with affinities to the CB1 receptors, including delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, delta-10-tetrahydrocannabinol, hexahydrocannabinol, tetrahydrocannabinol acetate, tetrahydrocannabiphorol and tetrahydrocannabivarin.
The bill comes one year after the Legislature wrestled with the hemp issue previously, passing a reform bill defanged of many of the reforms in the current legislation waiting for DeSantis' decision.
SB 1676, which ultimately passed both the House and Senate unanimously after initial controversy in 2023, maintained age limits of 21 and up for purchase and usage, as well as a ban on packaging that's "attractive to children." It curbs "hemp edibles" making their way to minors, adding "consumer safety" provisions including product testing. Industry stakeholders and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services backed the bill in its final form.
But despite those changes to the industry still being processed this year, legislators pushed for the kind of far-reaching bans on hemp happening in many states, a localized movement backdropped by a federal farm bill that could impose its own restrictions on THC and other hemp compounds.
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