Floridians will still be able to buy and use delta-8 and other hemp products after Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday vetoed a bill that sought to reshape Florida’s market.
As the bill, SB 1698, moved through Florida’s legislative process, it was opposed by consumers who said they needed the products for their physical and mental health and by businesses who said it would cause thousands of Floridians to lose out. their jobs.
DeSantis, based on his veto letter, appeared to agree. In the letter, DeSantis said the bill would “impose debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses” and “introduce dramatic disruption and harm to many small retail and manufacturing businesses in Florida.”
A study commissioned by a hemp trade group found that Florida’s hemp market racked up more than $10 billion in sales in 2022 and employed more than 100,000 people.
DeSantis said he would encourage the Legislature to return to the topic next session to create a regulatory framework for Florida’s hemp market.
“Sensible, non-arbitrary regulation will provide businesses and consumers with much-needed stability – safeguarding public health and safety, allowing legitimate industry to flourish, and removing bad actors from the marketplace,” DeSantis said.
He listed three areas he would like the Legislature to focus on: quality control, product packaging requirements and analysis of how and where hemp products are sold.
As of earlier this week, the governor’s office had received more than 13,000 calls, emails and letters from people and groups pushing for the veto. Fewer than 100 people reached out to his office in support of the project.
Those opposing the bill included a group of consumers who feared that, if passed, the bill could affect CBD, which does not have a psychoactive effect.
The bill sought to ban the sale of delta-8 hemp products, which can create a feeling of “euphoria,” and would also ban hemp products with other cannabinoids, including delta-10, THC-V and THC-P. It would also have limited the strength of hemp products still permitted.
Because the cannabis plant contains more than 100 cannabinoids, there may be small levels of these cannabinoids in non-psychoactive products, which is why some CBD users were concerned that a blanket ban would remove products from shelves.
Paige Figi, executive director of the Coalition for Access Now, opposed the bill due to the effect it could have on CBD. Charlotte’s Web CBD product is named after Figi’s daughter, and Figi used the CBD product to control Charlotte’s epilepsy.
Figi said that for families like hers, access to CBD was a matter of life and death.
Senators voted unanimously in favor of the bill, but the House was more divided, with 14 Republicans voting against it — a notable schism for a Legislature in which Republicans are typically largely allies by the time the final vote is taken.
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Several Democrats who opposed the bill said that if it passed, it would only benefit large medical marijuana dispensaries, which could take business away from shuttered pot shops.
In November, Florida voters will be able to decide whether they want recreational marijuana legalized in the state. If the amendment passes, it will be medical marijuana license holders who will be able to sell to recreational buyers. DeSantis has expressed opposition to the marijuana amendment.
