CBD could be banned in Florida if bill passes, advocates warn
CBD, a medication used by millions of Americans to battle a variety of illnesses and anxiety, could be banned entirely in Florida because of a bill that seeks to outlaw synthetic chemicals in hemp that can induce euphoria.
Paige Figi, considered the “mother of CBD” in the U.S. because of her crusade to legalize what became known as Charlotte’s Web, is attempting to sound the alarm about the bill. She is being joined by parents of children who desperately need the product and independent hemp growers worried their businesses would be devastated.
“I just don’t think the lawmakers are taking account of the millions of Floridians that are going to be medically affected by the removal of their health products,” Figi said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
Figi was one of the key proponents of legalizing CBD both nationally and in Florida, where then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill in 2014 giving certain patients access to cannabidiol oils with low levels of THC, the substance that causes euphoria in users.
The CBD company she founded, Charlotte’s Web, was named after her daughter, who had catastrophic epilepsy. CBD helped lessen the severity of her seizures before her death.
Now, as executive director of the pro-CBD group Coalition for Access Now, she has ramped up her efforts to oppose Florida bills HB 1613 and SB 1698.
They would redefine legal hemp to a level that would exclude naturally occurring cannabinoids such as CBD, reduce legal THC limits to below the level allowed in federal law, and increase the already rigorous testing on hemp products, according to the group Hemp for Florida.
“This would mean that we would have to shut down our mobile stores,” said Randy Rembert, the manager of hemp producer Rembert Family Farms in Alachua County. “Almost
70% of our bottom line comes from those various products that are being banned. … It also puts our farm in jeopardy, because so many farmers, so many businesses rely on our actual raw material to make their products as well.”
The bills are attempting to crack down on synthetic chemicals that simulate the highs created by THC, but are so sweeping that CBD is caught in the crossfire, Figi said.
The synthetics, Figi said, are “manmade, chemically laden, and they found a federal loophole through CBD and hemp to sell [them],” she said. “… That should absolutely be dealt with. The problem is that this bill is moving so hastily, so quickly, that the more than 2 million people in your state that are using CBD daily as a health product are being lumped in and carried away with the bathwater.”
The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Colleen Burton, RLakeland, passed the full chamber unanimously on Feb. 15. Just five days later, however, the House version, sponsored by state Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, was moved onto the House floor by a 17-12 vote from the Appropriations Committee.
Though the committee vote was largely along party lines, state Rep. Jim Mooney, R-Islamorada, said he opposed the bill because of concerns that the THC caps would affect him and his elderly mother, who both use CBD products for pain, according to the Floridian Press.
Gregory has defended his bill, saying in the committee hearing that the Legislature has “made mistakes” by regulating marijuana, a separate product from hemp, instead of THC itself.
On Monday, there was no indication of when the bill would be up for a full House vote. Gregory and Burton did not return requests for comment. A spokesman for Gov. Ron
DeSantis did not return a request for comment.
The increased opposition in the House to the bill gave Figi some optimism that her message is being heard.
“I think things have changed as people got wind of it,” she said. “So things have slowed down. … I just want them to slow down enough to carve out this [provision].”