Florida
In Florida, the Roundtable worked diligently throughout the legislative session to defeat several bills that would have prohibited the sale of ingestible hemp products to anyone 21 years old. The bill sponsors refused to strike the age restriction, so the Roundtable persuaded committee chairs to not hear the bills. The Roundtable also thwarted a last-ditch effort to enact the age restriction—and expand it to topical products—in a bill relating to the Department of Health. As the Roundtable pointed out, the bill was not germane because the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, not the Department of Health, regulates the state hemp program. But for the same reason, the Roundtable’s proposed amendment limiting the age restriction to delta-8 and intoxicating restrictions also failed.
Also in Florida, the Roundtable worked with legislative staff to find a vehicle for language clarifying that hemp supplement products for animals may be sold. Unfortunately, there were no germane bills that emerged from the committee process. The Roundtable suggested including the language in a budget bill, but the language was deemed too policy heavy and definitional to be included in the budget. We will make this a priority again next year. |