Florida bill banning delta-8, many hemp products ready for DeSantis

Florida bill banning delta-8, many hemp products ready for DeSantis


A bill that could dramatically reshape Florida’s hemp market is poised for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, despite warnings from business owners that it could ruin the Florida market and affect non-psychoactive products.

Business owners warn that the legislation will effectively dismantle the hemp industry, causing thousands of Floridians to lose their jobs. Consumers have asked lawmakers about the positive effects hemp has had on their mental and physical health.

But bill Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, dismissed many of those cries, saying hemp products are intoxicating and sold “because there’s a lot of money in selling drugs to people.”

The Senate bill passed unanimously, but the House was much more divided. It passed that chamber on a 64-48 vote, with 14 Republicans voting against it.

The bill, SB1698, would ban delta-8 products like gummies, tinctures, and vapors, but it may also affect other products like CBD extracts because of some banned natural cannabinoids, or compounds, that appear in the hemp extract.

The most well-known cannabinoid is delta-9 THC, which creates a “high” feeling in large amounts. But the bill would prohibit other compounds such as delta-8, delta-10, THC-V and THC-P from being included in hemp extract.

Some cannabinoids that prohibit the hemp extract bill exist at low levels in some CBD products that people use to manage health conditions, including some of Charlotte’s Web oils, created for a young girl who had epilepsy and used CBD to relieve seizures. .

Tracy Thaxton Berg has been using hemp oil to manage her daughter Riley’s epilepsy. Using the oils, Riley has been seizure-free for nearly eight years, Thaxton Berg said.

Riley, who has severe autism and is non-verbal, used to have multiple seizures a day. Thaxton Berg, who lives in the Florida Panhandle, said doctors initially recommended a pharmaceutical product to manage Riley’s seizures, but she and her husband were concerned about the drug’s behavioral side effects.

With the hemp oil she takes morning and night, Riley has no side effects and is no longer at risk of falling and injuring herself, Thaxton Berg said. She is afraid to give her daughter something new without knowing the effects it might have.

“The fact that we’re now faced with the possibility of not being able to have it here, we’re scared,” Thaxton Berg said. “We will have no other choice but to move.â€

Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, a physician, said in the debate that the state should not incentivize self-medication. He also said that he would not send his brother, who is epileptic, to a tobacco shop to treat the condition.

“We need to encourage all patients to use the system,” Rudman said.

Florida’s hemp business came into force after the 2018 federal bill, which legalized hemp. Since then, it has grown to employ more than 100,000 Floridians and amass sales of more than $10 billion by 2022, according to a study commissioned by a hemp trade group.

Gregory told lawmakers on Tuesday that they had been “tricked” into signing on to a hemp market they thought would be largely used for industrial purposes such as textile manufacturing.

Instead, Gregory said, “they are using hemp products to make intoxicating substances.”

Delta-8 can have a psychoactive effect, but it is usually less potent than delta-9 and occurs in smaller amounts. Through a chemical process, however, other cannabinoids can be converted to delta-8, creating an end product, legal for sale, with a stronger and potentially psychoactive effect.

JJ Coombs, who operates three Fort Lauderdale-based hemp businesses, including a hemp extraction lab, said if the bill becomes law, he will likely have no choice but to move his business to a other state Coombs said he has just over 150 full-time employees working for him.

He said the bill would put his business at risk. If even a small fraction of those banned compounds were found in their products, it would be illegal, Coombs said. He said he wants the industry to be regulated and opposes super-dose products, but said the legislation shuts down the industry instead of working on it.

“(The bill) turns our industry over to the black market, dispensaries and out-of-state manufacturers who are still shipping into the state of Florida,” Coombs said.

Gregory said business owners who could be affected were “smart enough to see the loophole” and will be “smart enough to do something else.” but noted that they can still sell delta-9 THC within the proposed limits.

The bill would limit hemp products to 5 milligrams of delta-9 THC per serving or 50 milligrams per container. Gregory said the change was a “compromise” and that ideally he would like to see “0 milligrams.”

Several Democrats in the House have said the bill would dismantle one industry in favor of giving its business to another, the medical marijuana industry.

Recreational marijuana is a possibility for Florida next year: The Florida Supreme Court is reviewing the language of the amendment that would allow adults over the age of 21 to use marijuana without criminal penalties.

If this language passes, recreational products would be sold at Florida’s existing licensed medical marijuana treatment centers.

“If this product is so bad that we want to ban it, then ban it,” said Rep. Hillary Cassel, D-Dania Beach. “But that is not what we are doing today. We are choosing which doors you buy it from.â€

Correction: Due to a reporter’s error, this article has been updated from initial publication to accurately reflect how Charlotte’s Web was founded.

CBD oil? Thoughts 🤔

CBD oil? Thoughts 🤔

Companies Were Big on CBD. Not Anymore. | Ap

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