Florida Senate Unanimously Approves Hemp Crackdown Months After DeSantis's Veto

TALLAHASSEE—The Florida Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill cracking down on hemp, months after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed last year’s version and days after a Florida woman blamed delta-8 gummies for her son's death.

The bill, which bans delta-8 in hemp products and imposes new restrictions on THC-infused drinks, passed the Senate Floor unanimously. Co-sponsors Republican Sen. Colleen Burton and Democrat Sen. Tracie Davis argued it addresses all of DeSantis's concerns he outlined in last year's veto letter while regulating a "wild west" industry.

"A young man, 24 years old, a baggage handler for Delta Airlines, bought some delta-8 gummies with his girlfriend. And that young man now has a grieving mother," Burton said, pointing to a story by Action News Jax centering on Darrell Johnson, who collapsed and died after eating several packages of 500-milligram THC gummies.

The official cause of death was cardiovascular disease.

SB 438 includes last year’s proposed ban on delta-8 and delta-10 products in hemp and limits THC—the “high” ingredient in marijuana—to under 5 milligrams per hemp serving or 50 milligrams per container. It also includes DeSantis’s suggestions outlined in his veto letter to ban hemp stores within 500 feet of schools, daycare centers, gas stations, and other hemp stores.

"There are some differences, but we're still going in to create that regulatory framework, and this is the bill that actually answers all of the governor's questions when he vetoed it," Davis said.

Other provisions ban THC-infused drinks from being sold anywhere besides businesses licensed to sell alcohol, require hemp products to be locked away or behind the retail counter, and ask that they be tested by medical marijuana labs instead of independent testing labs.

This is the fifth time a hemp bill has come to the Legislature. While those versions, including last year's, lacked bans on hemp business locations or regulations on THC beverages, they banned delta-8 products in hemp, restricted the amount of THC in hemp products, and cracked down on hemp products that are alluring to children.

Though the measure passed the Legislature last year, DeSantis vetoed it two months later. Burton has since incorporated all of the 2024 bill into this year’s.

The companion bills in the House still have two committee stops before making it to the House Floor.