All hemp-derived THC products would be taxed at 15 percent under a proposal passed in a Florida House committee on Wednesday.
The measure is one of two regarding regulation of hemp-derived THC products sponsored by Panhandle Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman that were approved unanimously in the House Budget Committee.
The main bill (HB 7027) is a companion to a Senate bill (SB 438) that has already passed unanimously in that chamber, although they do contain significant differences. Among them is that Salzman’s bill would not ban delta-8, the hemp-derived THC product that has grown in popularity since hemp was legalized in the United States through the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.
Like its Senate companion, the House bill limits the amount of delta-9 THC in hemp-derived products such as beverages and gummies. It says edibles must contain no more than 2 milligrams, be individually wrapped and be sold in containers with no more than 20 edibles.
That raised objections from Patrick Shatzer of Sunmed/Your CBD Store, who says his company is the largest CBD brick-and-mortar business in the country, with 260 locations nationwide and 42 in Florida.
“The size of the gummies—limited to 2 grams—that’s just a tiny little pinkie size wide,” he said to the committee. “That’s not the industry standard. The industry standard is anywhere from 5 to 8 grams.”
Shatzer also objected to the provision limiting 20 servings per container, saying the average dietary supplements permit 30 gummies in a container. And he raised objections to a prohibition on selling, delivering, bartering, giving or furnishing hemp consumables that total more than 100 milligrams of THC to a person in a 24-hour period, saying it would be unenforceable.
Rep. Salzman replied that, while she is open to changing some of those limits, she is holding firm on limiting personal consumption of such products to 100 milligrams of THC a day.
“If somebody knows that they can’t buy more than 100 milligrams in that day, it’s going to give them a warning subconsciously, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have more than 100 milligrams of this stuff in a day,’” she said. “And if you want more than 100 milligrams of this stuff a day, you probably need to get a medical cannabis card.”
Regarding the proposed 15 percent excise tax on hemp products, Jodi James of the Florida Cannabis Action Network said that not all hemp products are intoxicating, and that those that aren’t should not be taxed at all.
“In the state of Florida, we don’t tax vitamins, we don’t tax supplements,” she said.
Hellbound and Down 