Page 6 - Cannabis News Florida Novemebr 2019

Florida's Hemp membership@theflhc.org
www.theflhc.org
833.4FL.HEMP
Rulemaking 833.435.4367

Process Explained

BY ERIC STEVENS smokable flower be available, and other requests that
weren't possible yet, even if constitutionally permissible
We have been tracking the state attending rule making hearings and University until the legislative bill stopped this ban because the
briefings on Hemp. We are hopefully nearing the end of a long process, assuming we original state bill had banned this. Once the bill passed
don’t have any litigation over the rules. Many good concerns have been brought up to allow smokable flower, the rulemaking happened rap-
and most have been addressed, but for those that remain the issues seem to come idly after this because they already had the main system
down to one of three issues. Some are federal requirements (Farm Bill), others are put in place to build on.
in place by the state legislature (SB 1020/Statute), and others were added by the Hopefully many of you submitted comments to the
Department of Agriculture (Rulemaking). state, and we look forward to seeing Florida's future
Some rules are required because of the federal farm bill because esxsszxxaszr- hemp program evolve. With three committee weeks left
wxxhnsentially the farm bill gave guidance to states where they will be submitting before the end of 2019 and then 60 days of lawmaking
their plans for approval to the federal government regarding hemp but they must fol- from Jan 14th - March 13th, we can work on more fixes
low certain guidelines. Some issues were put in place by the legislature as parts of SB then as needed. Legislative session is earlier in election
1020 that were not requirements of the farm bill which implemented Florida’s hemp years, so legislators can get more time back in their dis- Eric Stevens
law, such as requiring the Department of Agriculture to only allow farmers to use cer- tricts campaigning. Lets make sure they do things that
tified seeds. These are issues that would need a legislative bill to fix this, because the will make our state proud of the program we have built to help our Florida farmers.
Department can only do what they are authorized to do. They cannot make new laws We need to move forward with these rules and get this program started, and then we
even though they may want too many times. The Department of Health has found can get bills passed to fix any additional issues that may arise. We will keep you
themselves with their hands tied in similar situations regarding medical marijuana updated with our legislative week in Tallahassee and other events so make sure you
and things they want to do but don't feel they have the authority yet for. signup for our website and like our social pages so you know right when the rules are
Many other good things were changed in the newest rule draft that came out such finalized, and what the latest developments are.
as the bond requirements being lifted, and the allowance for industrial land to be
used, not just agricultural. Then others issues may just need to be changed within the Visit:www.theflhc.org
rules as is and do not require further lawmaking, but may require changing the defi-
nition of some terms or other smaller fixes that could be done by the Department, www.facebook.com/FloridaHempCouncil/
such as their the Delta-9 vs. THC-a calculations. They also can release follow up rules @floridahempcouncil
to this on any timeline they want, as we have seen many times from the Department
of Health for a comparison. I attended many DOH hearings where people requested

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Cannabis News Florida cannabisnewsflorida.com November 2019 39