No. HB 1409
Filed under Transportation.
THC; Provides that marijuana testing laboratory may acquire hemp & hemp extract only from certain businesses; prohibits marijuana testing laboratory from selling, distributing, or transferring hemp or hemp extract from certain businesses; requires marijuana testing laboratory to separate marijuana received from certain entities from hemp or hemp extract received from certain entities; revises requirements for sale & distribution of hemp extract; prohibits businesses or food establishments from possessing hemp or hemp extract products that are attractive to children; prohibits unpermitted business sales, street sales, or festival sales of hemp extract; prohibits business permitted to sell hemp or hemp extract from being located in certain areas; provides requirements for businesses permitted to sell hemp or hemp extract; including THC-infused beverages in list of products prohibited for sale to person under 21 years of age; provides penalty for hemp extract possessed, manufactured, delivered, held, offered for sale, distributed, or sold by certain entities in violation of specified provisions.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDFlorida's open-container law for alcohol now covers THC-infused beverages as well. Drivers may not possess an open THC drink while operating a vehicle, passengers may not drink one en route, and the same rule reaches people sitting in a parked car on a road.
A brand-new section makes it a crime to sell, serve, or give a THC-infused beverage to anyone under 21, or to let a minor drink one. A minor's own possession of one is a separate offense, and repeat violations within a year escalate the charge.
The bill also creates a licensing structure for THC-infused beverages that mirrors alcohol regulation. Retail sale is limited to alcohol-licensed premises, home delivery is banned, and sellers must keep 500 feet from any school or day care.
Distributors owe a new wholesale tax of 5 cents per milligram of hemp-derived cannabinoid in each drink, paid monthly to state alcohol regulators. Violating the licensing rules can also bring a civil fine of up to $10,000 per offense.
AIA person operating a vehicle, or riding in one as a passenger, may not possess an open THC-infused beverage or drink one; the same rule reaches anyone sitting in a car that is parked or stopped on a road, enforced as a traffic violation under the section's existing penalty clause.
AISelling, giving, or serving a THC-infused beverage to someone under 21, or letting a minor drink one, is a second-degree misdemeanor that becomes first-degree on a repeat within a year. A minor's own possession of one is punished the same way.
AITHC-infused beverages can be sold at retail only where alcoholic beverages are already licensed to be sold; selling them anywhere else, including through unpermitted businesses, street vendors, or festival booths, is unlawful.
AIEvery retail sale or transfer of a THC-infused beverage must happen face-to-face at the licensed retail location itself; delivering the product to a consumer, whether directly or through an intermediary, is flatly prohibited.
AIEvery distributor owes 5 cents per milligram of hemp-derived cannabinoid in each THC-infused beverage sold at wholesale, due monthly to the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco by the 10th of the following month.
AIA business permitted to sell THC-infused beverages at retail cannot locate within 500 feet of a school or day care facility, though this specific buffer reaches only retail sellers, not manufacturing or distribution sites.
AIA retailer licensed to sell THC-infused beverages cannot also hold a license to distribute them or a food permit to manufacture them, and distributors face a parallel bar on holding a manufacturing permit, splitting the industry into separate tiers as with alcohol.