Florida’s Second Stab at CBD Rules Questioned

Florida is having a hard time figuring out rules for its CBD industry.

The state health department’s decision to award dispensary licenses via lottery was upended by a judge in December, delaying implementation of Florida’s CBD law.

Now, an attorney for the state Legislature has suggested that the department’s second attempt at proposing regulations is flawed.

Attorney Marjorie Holladay, representing the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee of the Florida Legislature, said in a letter to the department that the intended scoring system is too vague.

Holladay also questioned why the department would allow producers to cultivate, process and sell CBD in separate locations, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

The attorney further asked why the health department is asking business license applicants about their relationships with testing labs, given that nothing in current state law requires CBD medicine to be tested, according to the publication.

This is part of a larger budget question because it could raise the cost of Florida’s five-year pilot program. That could trigger a state requirement that the Legislature approve any such rules if the cost of regulations exceeds $1 million, which Holladay warned could happen.

Cost overruns could therefore delay implementation of the program even longer.