The Current Status of the Legality of CBD Oil in Florida
by
Zachary Michael Ward on Jul. 26, 2019
Criminal Felony Criminal Misdemeanor
Summary: Current state of legality of CBD oil in Florida.
The Current Status of the Legality of CBD Oil in Florida
Florida Senate Bill 1020, regulating hemp and hemp extract in Florida, which includes state regulation of the popular hemp derivative, cannabidiol (CBD) was signed into law by the Governor DeSantis in June of 2019. The bill makes Florida the latest state to enact legislation to legalize and regulate its hemp industry. In December 2018, President Trump signed a farm bill that removed hemp from the Federal list of controlled substances.
Hemp comes from the same cannabis plant that produces marijuana. Marijuana has much higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in the plant that is psychoactive, which is a fancy way of saying “gets one high.” Hemp and marijuana have CBD—a medical compound that has health benefits but is psychoactive. Under Federal hemp is legal as long as it contains no more than 0.3 percent THC. Hemp is the basis of a variety of products including CBD oil.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is still formulating regulations for the farming and production of hemp in Florida. A legal framework that surrounds the sale or distribution of CBD oil has emerged in Florida. No one can sell or distribute CBD in Florida without obtaining a certificate of analysis prepared by a laboratory that states that the hemp extract has been tested by the laboratory and that the batch contained a total THC concentration that did not exceed 0.3 percent.
CBD packaging must include: A barcode linked to the certificate of analysis of the hemp extract by an independent testing laboratory; the batch number; the internet where batch information may be obtained; an expiration date; milligrams of hemp extract; and that product contains a total THC concentration less than 0.3 percent.
A word to the wise, CBD oil will still contain small amounts of THC, which may cause a positive, or in this case a false positive, result when tested with a portable drug testing device carried by law enforcement personnel. People in Florida have been arrested and prosecuting for possessing CBD oil under the same statute(s) that trigger arrest and prosecution for marijuana/cannabis. This is particularly true with the prevalence of cannabis oil, waxes and other kinds of smokeable marijuana that are not the traditional plant, bud or flower.
