Gummy before you fly? Miami airport looking for an edibles retailer in a CBD store
Miami International Airport has a new idea to take the stress out of flying in 2024: hemp-based edibles.
The county-owned airport recently posted the specifications for a “Cannabidiol Retail Shop” selling hemp-based products widely known as CBD.
CBD stores sell gummies, creams and serums made from cannabis plants but without the chemicals needed to make someone high. State and federal law restricts CBD products to extremely tiny amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Legal in Florida, CBD retailers tout the calming properties of their products, selling points that MIA thinks will appeal to at least some of its passengers.
“Travelers that are stressed, anxious, and are focused on their wellness are the target market for this shop,” reads the draft solicitation posted over the weekend on a Miami-Dade County website.
The posting comes as MIA is fending off complaints about shoddy management over disabled escalators and elevators and the Concourse D Skytrain, which has been out of service since September.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava oversees the airport under the county’s Aviation Department. Two weeks ago, she held a press conference there, promising major improvements in the coming years and resumed Skytrain service by the spring.
“We have been righting the wrongs of the past and stepping up to make this airport the world-class success story it should be,” Levine Cava said at the Jan. 18 event.
Florida law allows retailers to sell hemp-based CBD products with a permit issued to food sellers. A 2019 state law says CBD products may contain no more than 0.3% THC.
The Atlanta airport has a CBD store by SunMed, but the stores are uncommon in airports, according to the cannabis trade publication MJBizDaily. In announcing the Hartsfield-Jackson SunMed location in Atlanta last year, the publication wrote: “CBD stores are rare tenants at airports worldwide.”
While a Texas woman ran into trouble last year trying to board a Miami cruise ship with CBD gummies, the products legalized in Florida are also approved for flights by the federal Transportation Security Administration.
The Miami-Dade draft solicitation sets the stage for a formal bidding process for MIA retail space, which the county typically rents out for a portion of sales. The document describes a 1,052-squarefoot store but does not identify the location.
“The selected Proposer should be able to demonstrate and showcase its commitment to healthconscious and modern wellness as well as provide information on destination laws to the public traveling inside and/or outside the US and ensure CBD products sold comply with federal legal requirements which may not exceed 0.3% THC levels,” the solicitation said.
While airport bars thrive on selling substances to relax passengers, MIA’s interest in a CBD store provided fodder for critics, including state Sen. Bryan Avila, a Miami-area Republican.
“A solicitation for a
CBD retail shop further leads to the perception that the county mayor, county administration and airport director are simply not able to prioritize and tackle the challenges facing Miami International Airport,” Avila said in a statement.
Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia echoed that sentiment.
“No amount of edibles will help travelers with the madness they encounter at MIA, nor is it a suitable venue for CBD,” Garcia said in a statement.