Is CBD legal in Florida?
On June 25, 2019, Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, signed Florida Senate Bill 1020, regulating hemp and hemp extract in Florida, which includes state regulation of the popular hemp derivative, cannabidiol (CBD). The bill, which passed in May with nearly unanimous bipartisan support, makes Florida the latest state to enact legislation to legalize and regulate its hemp industry, following similar action at the federal level late last year.
On December 12, 2018, President Trump signed the Farm Bill removing hemp from the list of controlled substances and making it federally legal to grow and sell hemp. The Hemp plant original origins come from the same cannabis plant that produces marijuana. However, marijuana plants have much higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in the plant that is psychoactive and generates a euphoric effect. Both hemp and marijuana plants have CBD but the hemp plant is cultivated to produce a robust percentage of CBD and almost no THC. Pursuant to the Farm Bill, hemp is legal as long as it contains no more than 0.3 percent THC. If hemp has more than 0.3 percent THC, it is still a federally banned controlled substance. Hemp can be transformed into a variety of products including, but not limited to, dietary supplements such as CBD oil.
“Hemp extract” is defined as a substance or compound intended for ingestion that is derived from or contains hemp and does not contain any other controlled substances. This includes CBD. Importantly, no one can sell or distribute CBD in Florida without a certificate of analysis prepared by an independent testing laboratory that states that the hemp extract is the product of a batch tested by the laboratory and that the batch contained a total delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that did not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis pursuant to the testing of a random sample of the batch. Further, CBD must be distributed or sold in packaging that includes:
1. The internet address of a website where batch information may be obtained;
2. The number of milligrams of hemp extract; and
3. A statement that the product contains a total delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis.
