Florida lawmakers in the state’s House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee last week advanced a proposal that would put a potency cap on adult-use cannabis products before the state has even enacted a legalization policy, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The bill, HB1269, seeks a 30% THC potency cap for non-medical cannabis flower products and a 60% cannabis potency cap for extracts and concentrates. Edibles, meanwhile, would be capped at a max of 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 200 milligrams per package. The proposal would only take effect 30 days after the passage of an amendment legalizing adult-use cannabis.
Notably, the Florida Supreme Court is currently considering whether to allow such an amendment to appear before voters this year after the attorney general asked the court to reject an initiative brought by advocates who had collected nearly a million voter signatures supporting the reforms.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — who does not support the legalization of cannabis — said recently that he believes the court will allow voters the chance to consider the issue this November.
One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Ralph Massullo (R-Lecanto), said that the bill — despite being designed to preempt a voter-backed legalization decision — doesn’t infringe on voter rights.
“This gives them an opportunity to understand that if recreational marijuana passes in our state, whether the likelihood of that is high or low, that they will know that the legislature will step in to protect the public.” — Massullo, via the Tampa Bay Times
With the 13-4 vote, the bill has passed its first committee hurdle while on its way potentially to the House floor. The proposal does not have a companion bill in the Senate, the report said.
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