WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Hemp retailers in Florida must now comply with the new rules or face fines and possible shutdowns. Hemp is a cannabis plant like marijuana, but with low THC. The state is now cracking down on those products that look like candy or target kids. Smoke shops said the changes are clear to see.
“A lot of things like locking mechanisms on bottles like that, making it harder to push and open,” Glass Chamber store manager, Shaylynn Dowell said. “The old one with face and the new one without faces,” Planet 45 Smoke Shop partner. Khalid Shahwn said.
Earlier in the year, Florida lawmakers passed a law placing tight controls on how hemp-derived THC products, such as gummies, chocolates, and other edibles, can be sold, packaged, and consumed.
“Parents all of my district are raising issues about the packaging, how the packaging was done, and what else might be in the substance that was in that packaging,” Rep. Allison Tant said.
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To protect children, bright, cartoon-style packaging has been banned. Products also need to be sold in child-proof packaging and include a QR code that links straight to lab test results.
The law affects online sellers as well as convenience stores and smoke shops. Dowell supports the changes. “We don’t want anybody to, or anybody under the age of 21 to be able to grab something, be able to open it, and try it without knowing what it is. Just makes it safer for everybody,” Dowell said.
As for what happens to the old product, Planet 45 smoke shop made it clear. “This is the new, that is the old, we can’t sell that one, that one goes in the trash,” Shahwn said.
“Thankfully, we were able to work with the distributors and they were able to take back the product, maybe change it a little bit, and send us back a new product,” Dowell said.
The Department of Agriculture will be enforcing this new law; they can drop in on these stores anytime to check compliance with their hemp products.
“They usually stop by undercover, we don’t really know that they’re coming by, that way that they can get the most authentic experience and know what’s actually going on behind the scenes,” Dowell said.
And if shops don’t follow the rules, they could face fines or worse, be shut down.
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To protect children, bright, cartoon-style packaging has been banned. Products also need to be sold in child-proof packaging and include a QR code that links straight to lab test results. (WPEC)p/p Read More
