Hemp has state’s farmers high on now-legal crop
TALLAHASSEE — Hemp has been hyped as a lifesaver for some Florida farmers, touted as a versatile crop that can be used to build houses, feed livestock and make clothing.
But it’s the plant’s healing qualities that have sparked a second cannabis “green rush,” as the state’s hemp program gets off the ground.
The nationwide craze for products containing CBD is evident at supermarkets, gas stations and big-box stores, where lotions, tinctures and bath “bombs” are among the items flying off the shelves as consumers seek to quell anxiety, aches and pains and a host of other ailments.
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of the cannabinoids found in the plant cannabis sativa. What differentiates hemp from its cohort marijuana is the amount of euphoria-inducing THC.
State and federal law defines “industrial hemp” as cannabis that has 0.3 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Cannabis plants that have more than that amount of THC are marijuana.
While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, Congress last year decriminalized industrial hemp as an agricultural product, allowing states like Florida to begin regulating the plant that’s been around for 10,000 years.
Following up on the federal action, Florida lawmakers this authorized a statewide hemp program and gave oversight of the crop to Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.
Fried, a Broward County Democrat elected in November, had already branded herself as the Sunshine State’s cannabis regulator, making expanded patient access to medical marijuana a cornerstone of her campaign last year and continuing that crusade since taking office in January.
Fried in February appointed Holly Bell as the state’s first “director of cannabis,” three months before the Legislature handed hemp over to the agriculture agency.
While hemp can be grown for many purposes, Bell said she expects most Florida growers to cultivate flowering plants that will be used for CBD extraction, at least at the outset.
“The demand for the hemp crop is in the CBD crop right now, so that’s what the farmers will grow,” Bell said.
Bell, a former banker who took over as Florida’s cannabis czar after playing a role in Tennessee’s hemp industry, said market research shows countrywide demand for hemp is anticipated to be “in the high double digits over the next few years.”
She estimates that as many as 3,000 growers will line up when agriculture department begins accepting applications for the program.