MIAMI — Less than a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed legislation that would overhaul Florida’s hemp marketplace, Florida senators are trying again.

On Monday, a bill that would reform the hemp marketplace moved through its first committee meeting in the Senate. The House hasn’t heard any companion legislation yet.

Some of the ideas in the package senators moved forward are the same as what was in the bill that DeSantis vetoed last year. Others are new.

When DeSantis vetoed last year‘s bill, he said it would impose too harsh a burden on small businesses.

But the sponsor of both this year’s legislation and the vetoed bill said lawmakers also need to weigh concerns about the health and safety of hemp products.

Here’s what to know about what the proposal, SB 438, would mean for hemp businesses and users.

Banning delta-8

Many of the products currently lining smoke shops around the state would become illegal under Sen. Colleen Burton’s proposed bill, including any delta-8 products.

The cannabis plant contains more than 100 cannabinoids. Delta-9 is what users typically think of as THC, and is a compound that creates a high sensation.

While delta-8 can also create a psychoactive effect, it is thought to be less potent and occurs in lower quantities naturally than delta-9. But producers can use a chemical process to convert other cannabinoids into delta-8, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The bill would change the definition of hemp extract to prohibit it from containing “any quantity of synthetic cannabinoids.” It would also ban delta-8, delta-10, HHC, THC-O-Acetate, THCP and THCV.

Last year, a similar ban was in the bill DeSantis vetoed. Opponents said the ban could affect products with trace amounts of those cannabinoids that aren’t meant to create a “high” sensation, like certain CBD tinctures.

Remaining legal products under the bill would be capped at 5 milligrams of delta-9 THC per serving or 50 milligrams per container.

Requiring alcohol licenses

Under the bill, canned beverages that contain THC could only be sold at shops with a license to sell alcohol.

It would also require a cap on the strength of THC drinks, limiting them to 5 milligrams per unopened can. The bill would also prohibit alcohol from being included in a beverage with THC.

According to a Harvard Medical School blog, the cannabinoids found in beverages are designed to dissolve easily in liquids — which means they lead to a quicker effect as they are absorbed in the body.

Michael and Caitlyn Smith, owners of the St. Petersburg-based non-alcoholic bottle shop Herban Flow, opposed the beverage requirements.

Both said requiring their store, which centers around not selling alcoholic beverages, to have a license for alcohol doesn’t make sense.

Michael Smith said he’s in favor of going after delta-8 and synthetic cannabinoids, which he said is what lawmakers are really seeking.

“They’re trying to take a bill to shut down the smoke shops, and they’re sweeping us along inside of it when our mission is different,” Michael Smith said. “We’re trying to provide an alternative to people looking to stay away from alcohol.”

Limiting hemp shop advertising, locations

If passed, the bill could mean no more strip malls filled with back-to-back smoke shops.

The legislation would limit where a store selling hemp could set up. It would ban a shop selling hemp from setting up within 500 feet of a school or daycare, a gas station or another retail shop with a permit to sell hemp.

When DeSantis suggested how the Legislature could reform the hemp marketplace in his veto letter of last year’s bill, he said lawmakers should “consider measures to prevent the ubiquity and concentration of these retail locations in communities across the State.”

The bill would also restrict what hemp shops look like to visitors. Current shops can have products that are easily accessible. The proposal would require that all hemp products, aside from beverages, be kept out of reach in either a locked display or in an area accessible to only employees.

Advertising would also significantly change. Businesses would no longer be able to advertise using the words “THC,” “medical card” or any other similar term.

Businesses would also no longer be able to advertise in a way that’s visible to members of the public from the sidewalk or street, which would make hemp shops operate like medical marijuana facilities.

Testing regulations

Hemp in Florida would be tested in the same labs where medical marijuana is tested under the bill, and two lab employees would need to verify it meets potency requirements and is free from contaminants.

The bill would also create an avenue for state officials to randomly test products from the shelves of hemp shops.

If a tested product fails, it would need to be recalled.

A Herald/Times analysis showed that many hemp products have a THC level high enough to classify as marijuana, and some contained contaminants unsafe for human consumption.

Burton said testing would make sure that “products are indeed hemp products and not marijuana products dressed in hemp clothing.”

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