A Florida lawmaker has introduced legislation that would allow medical marijuana patients in the state to grow up to two cannabis plants at home while also outlawing certain hemp-derived cannabinoids.
SB 334, sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters (R)—who endorsed last year’s ultimately unsuccessful ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older—would require that homegrown cannabis be cultivated out of public view, “including a view from another private property,” and in an “enclosed, locked space to prevent access by unauthorized persons and persons younger than 21.”
The two-plant limit would apply to a household regardless of how many qualified patients live in the residence. Violations would be a first degree criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The proposal would expand the rights of medical marijuana patients in Florida while at the same time trying to rein in the state’s largely unregulated hemp-derived cannabinoid market. Specifically, it would ban from hemp products the cannabinoids delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, tetrahydrocannabinol acetate (THCA), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THCP) and hexahydrocannabinol (HHC).
Delta-9 THC, meanwhile—the chief psychoactive component in marijuana—would be capped at 2 milligrams per serving and 20 mg per package. Further, the bill clarifies that a product’s delta-9 THC content would be determined through a combination of delta-9 itself and THCA, which converts into delta-9 THC when heated.
The new bill would also impose certain additional restrictions on the sale and advertising of hemp extracts, for example banning street retail stalls, sales at festivals and businesses within 500 feet of a school, day care facility or other hemp business. Public advertisements would also be generally prohibited.
Gruters, a former chair of the Florida Republican Party, was a proponent of the backed legalization measure Amendment 3 last November, appearing in an ad alongside Sen. Shevrin Jones (D) to argue that the reform would be “good for Florida” despite strong pushback from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Gruters and Kim Rivers—the CEO of Trulieve, a medical marijuana company that provided the bulk of funding for Amendment 3—also met with Trump ahead of his endorsement of the constitutional amendment, as well as federal rescheduling and industry banking access.
Notably, Amendment 3 would not have legalized home cultivation of marijuana—a detail seized on by some critics of the industry-backed proposal.
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