For the third year in a row, Florida lawmakers have begun debating a proposal to regulate THC-derived hemp products, which have evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry in the Sunshine State.
In addition to banning Delta-8 products and restricting the amount of Delta-9 THC levels in hemp products to 5 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per package, the latest proposal from Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen Burton (SB 438) includes for the first time regulations on hemp-infused drinks, which have surged in popularity over the past year.
The proposal would restrict the amount of THC per bottle or cans to no more than 5 milligrams. It would ban those drinks being sold at any locations other than ones already licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, adding additional prohibitions and requirements.
“Liquor stores and restaurants that would like to sell these products, they have come to us and asked us to provide some regulations so that they know that the products that they are selling have gone through the rigor of the testing and will all be held to the same standards,” Burton said in introducing the bill to the Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday afternoon.
But that provision received some pushback.
“Requiring us to carry a liquor license when we’re a non-alcoholic bottle shop kind of goes against what we built,” said Caitlyn Smith, co-owner of Herban Flow in St. Petersburg, which bills itself as Florida’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop.
Her husband and co-founder, Michael Smith, said that he is five years’ sober and the last thing that he wants is for his store to be regulated as a liquor store when it isn’t one.
Hellbound and Down 