Last month, Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, signed Florida Senate Bill 1020, establishing the regulatory framework for the cultivation, handling, processing, and sale of hemp, hemp derived products, and hemp extract in the state of Florida. The new bill legalizes and regulates the popular hemp derivative, cannabidiol (“CBD”). Senate Bill 1020 establishes a state hemp program within Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Department (“DACS”). The DACS is required to initiate rule-making by August 1, 2019. Florida hemp related information can be found at the website at www.FreshfromFlorida.com . In December of the last year, the Farm Bill removed hemp from the list of controlled substances, making it legal to grow and sell hemp under federal law so long as it does not contain more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive substance which causes a euphoric effect. Under the Farm Bill, if hemp has more than 0.3 percent THC, it remains a federally banned controlled substance. Hemp and its extracts are used to make a variety of products including nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, cosmetics, lotions, skin oils, hemp and CBD oils and hemp. Hemp can also be used as a substitute for wood and
many plastics. Florida’s proposed regulatory framework for hemp is summarized below: (a) An individual or entity seeking to cultivate, handle, process, transport, or sell hemp, hemp products, or hemp extract must register with the DACS and be granted a license. (b) Cultivators of hemp must provide to the DACS the legal description and GPS coordinates of the location in which hemp cultivation will occur. (c) Sellers and distributors of hemp derived CBD in Florida must obtain a certificate of analysis prepared by an independent testing laboratory which states that (i) the hemp extract is the product of a batch tested by the independent laboratory, (ii) the batch contained a total delta-9tetrahydrocannabinol concentration not exceeding 0.3 percent on a dryweight basis pursuant to the testing of a random sample of the batch, and (iii) does not contain contaminants unsafe for human consumption. In addition, hemp CBD products must be distributed or sold in packaging that includes: