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“I’m not a huge regulation guy, but I think it’s an area where we need more regulation.”
By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
The combined Florida House workgroup formed to study the hemp industry concluded its final meeting Thursday with two main conclusions:
They agreed they did not want to make any moves that might kill what has emerged as a multi-billion-dollar industry in the Sunshine State.
But they also determined that Florida has to change the status quo in regard to how the product is regulated.
The 24-member group, chaired by Escambia County Republican Michelle Salzman, was charged by House Speaker Danny Perez to “gain knowledge and understanding of the subject matter” and not to make legislative recommendations.
The panel heard testimony, some of it jarring, from industry experts, regulators and entrepreneurs.
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, whose department oversees the hemp industry, kicked off the meetings this week when he said that while the hemp market is complicated, the facts surrounding it aren’t.
“From my experience, the debate and advocacy often does not rely on the facts,” he said.
Federal law defines the hemp plant as having less than 0.3 percent THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
Hemp can produce cannabinoids that have intoxicating effects similar to THC in cannabis. But while medical marijuana is strictly regulated in Florida since it became legalized years ago, hemp isn’t, leading to repeated claims heard this week that the landscape for the product was essentially “the wild, wild west.”
“I’m not a huge regulation guy, but I think it’s an area where we need more regulation,” said Southeast Republican Rep. Toby Oberdorf. “You can have a bag of gummies from hemp that’s actually stronger than a bag of gummies from THC, which we legalized here in the state of Florida with a prescription.”
Central Florida Republican Richard Gentry said what concerned him most was the proliferation of hemp-derived THC-infused drinks now being sold in stores like ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, the largest liquor store chain in Florida. Those drinks are not alcoholic but are still intoxicating.
Chas Bailes, president and CEO of ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, told the committee that his stores have begun stocking those drinks due to consumer demand over the past six months. The maximum dosage in the drinks sold in his stores is 10 milligrams of THC. Some beverages on the market can contain as much as 100 milligrams.
‘In shock’
Surprising public testimony came from a testing lab owner who said his recent testing of hemp-derived products found a majority of them above that 0.3 percent THC limit.
George Fernandez is founder and CEO of Modern Canna Labs, a Lakeland laboratory contracted with the Florida Department of Agriculture to test cannabis and hemp products. He testified that over the past two quarters, his lab tested 50 out of 53 flower hemp samples from different smoke/hemp shops across the state that were over the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC limit. All told, out of the 111 hemp samples his lab tested, 64 percent failed (a total of 71).
He added that he also found contaminants in these products.
Perhaps most alarming, 49 out of 111 (44 percent) of the samples failed for pesticides. Sixteen of the samples (14 percent) failed for microbials, and five out of the 111 samples (or 4.5 percent) failed for heavy metals.
“I’m in shock right now,” Salzman responded.
Fernandez said that a lot of the products sold in Florida are tested by out-of-state laboratories, using different testing processes and parameters. “I think labs here are held to a higher standard,” he said.
The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill legalized hemp production, creating a large new industry in Florida (and across the country). It led to the development of products like delta-8 THC and other cannabinoids derived from hemp plants. That’s led to states across the country enacting their own regulations over the past few years, in some cases banning all intoxicating hemp products period.
Dr. Gillian Schauer with the Cannabis Regulators Association appeared remotely from Colorado to give lawmakers a detailed view of how different states are working to regulate the product. She listed some questions that legislators need to consider: What kind of market do you want for cannabinoids? Which cannabinoids do you want consumers to have access to? Should there be limits on the amount of intoxicating cannabinoids they can purchase in a serving? Should they tax the product?
Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen Burton pushed through proposals to regulate hemp in both the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions. The 2023 bill was stripped of the provisions that the hemp industry decried but did include a prohibition on the sale of hemp-extract products intended for human ingestion to anyone under 21. It also required that packaging of such products not be considered attractive to children.
In 2024, the Legislature passed a bill (SB 1698) that banned all delta-8 THC products in the state and restricted delta-9 THC levels in hemp products to 5 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per container. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed the measure last June following heavy lobbying from the hemp industry.
But the governor said in his veto letter that he was encouraging the Legislature to reconsider the topic during the 2025 session.
“Sensible, non-arbitrary regulation will provide businesses and consumers alike with much-needed sensibility—safeguarding public health and safety, allowing legitimate industry to flourish, and removing bad actors from the market,” he wrote.
For the third year in a row, Burton has filed comprehensive legislation regulating hemp (SB 438), which includes limiting the amount of THC to 5 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per container and limiting THC-infused beverages to no more than 5 milligrams per unopened can or bottle.
Duval County Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis has filed her own version, as well, which would limit the amount of THC to 2 milligrams per serving and 20 milligrams per container. Meanwhile, Republicans Hillary Cassel (HB 601) and Dana Trabulsky (HB 1597) have filed corresponding measures in the House.
This story was first published by Florida Phoenix.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
“}]] “I’m not a huge regulation guy, but I think it’s an area where we need more regulation.” By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix The combined Florida House workgroup formed to study the hemp industry concluded its final meeting Thursday with two main conclusions: They agreed they did not want to make any moves that might kill Read More
