Bill > H1597

Introduced Session

An act relating to legalization of recreational marijuana; providing a short title; amending s. 20.165, F.S.; renaming the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation; amending s. 561.025, F.S.; renaming the Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Trust Fund; specifying distribution of funds; providing directives to the Division of Law Revision; creating ch. 566, F.S., entitled "Recreational Marijuana"; providing definitions; exempting certain activities involving marijuana from use and possession offenses; authorizing persons age 21 and over to engage in certain activities involving personal use of marijuana in limited amounts; providing limits on where persons may engage in specified activities; prohibiting the use of false identification by persons under 21 years of age for specified activities relating to recreational marijuana; providing noncriminal penalties; providing for personal cultivation; specifying possession limits; specifying duties of the Division of Alcoholic Beverages, Marijuana, and Tobacco; creating a cannabis equity program; providing for fee waiver and loan programs; establishing special provisions for equity applicants hb1597-00 HB 1597 and microbusinesses; providing for issuance of early approval adult use dispensing organization licenses; specifying selection criteria; providing for issuance of conditional adult use dispensing organization license after a specified date; providing for adult use dispensing organization licenses; providing for identification cards for dispensing organizations; providing for background checks; requiring disclosure of ownership and control of dispensing organizations; providing for changes to dispensing organizations; providing for financial responsibility of dispensing organizations; providing for administration of dispensing organizations; providing operational requirements; providing requirements for inventory control systems; providing storage requirements; providing dispensing requirements; providing requirements for destruction and disposal of cannabis; requiring designation of an agent-in-charge; providing requirements for such agents; requiring security measures; specifying requirements for security of dispensaries; requiring certain recordkeeping for dispensaries; providing for nondisciplinary citations for minor violations; providing penalties; specifying grounds for discipline; authorizing temporary suspension of licenses; authorizing consent orders to hb1597-00 HB 1597 resolve certain disciplinary complaints; providing for hearings on disciplinary complaints; providing for issuance of adult use cultivation center licenses; providing requirements; providing for early approval of adult use cultivation center licenses; providing for conditional adult use cultivation center license applications; providing requirements for such centers; providing for scoring of applications; providing for denial of applications in certain circumstances; providing for cultivation center agent identification cards; requiring cultivation center background checks; providing for renewal of cultivation center licenses and agent identification cards; providing for licensure of craft growers; providing requirements; providing for applications and scoring; providing for denial of applications in certain circumstances; providing for identification cards; requiring background checks; providing for renewal of licenses and identification cards; providing for licensing of infuser organizations; providing requirements; providing for applications and scoring; providing for denial of applications in certain circumstances; providing for identification cards; requiring background checks; providing for renewal of licenses and identification cards; providing for licensing of hb1597-00 HB 1597 transporting organizations; providing requirements; providing for applications and scoring; providing for denial of applications in certain circumstances; providing for identification cards; requiring background checks; providing for renewal of licenses and identification cards; providing for cannabis testing facilities; requiring approval of testing facilities ; providing requirements; requiring that certain tests be performed before manufacturing or natural processing of any cannabis or cannabis-infused product or packaging cannabis for sale to a dispensary; requiring the department to establish certain standards; authorizing certain enforcement actions by the department; authorizing the Attorney General to enforce certain provisions under the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act; providing immunity for prosecution or discipline under certain provisions for licensees for engaging in licensed conduct; providing construction; providing standards and requirements for advertising and promotions; providing standards and requirements for packaging and labeling; requiring certain wanting labels; providing for certain local zoning ordinances for regulated businesses; providing for nonconflicting local ordinances and rules; authorizing certain local hb1597-00 HB 1597 regulation of on-premises cannabis consumption; authorizing establishment of restricted cannabis zones; providing a process for local governments to create such zones; providing requirements for such zones; providing for enforcement of tax provisions; providing for search, seizure, and forfeiture of cannabis in certain circumstances; requiring a report concerning a grant program; amending s. 500.03, F.S.; providing that marijuana establishments that sell food containing marijuana are considered food service establishments for the purposes of specified regulations; creating s. 500.105, F.S.; specifying that food products containing marijuana that are prepared in permitted food establishments and sold by licensed retail marijuana stores are not considered adulterated; amending s. 562.13, F.S.; providing that it is unlawful for marijuana establishments to employ persons under 18 years of age; amending s. 569.0073, F.S.; exempting licensed marijuana establishments from specified provisions regulating the sale of pipes and smoking devices; amending s. 893.03, F.S.; removing cannabis from the schedule of controlled substances; amending ss. 893.13 and 893.135, F.S.; providing that conduct authorized under chapter 566, F.S., is not prohibited by specified controlled substance hb1597-00 HB 1597 prohibitions; removing restrictions of possession and sale of cannabis; creating s. 893.13501, F.S.; providing for retroactive effect of amendments to ss. 893.03, 893.13, and 893.135, F.S., by this act; providing for sentencing review for certain offenders; requiring notice to certain offenders; providing procedures for resentencing or release of offenders; providing exceptions; amending s. 921.0022, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the act; creating s. 943.0586, F.S.; providing definitions; authorizing an individual convicted of certain crimes to obtain sealing of his or her criminal history record or petition the court for expunction of his or her criminal history record under certain circumstances; requiring the individual to first obtain a certificate of eligibility from the Department of Law Enforcement; requiring the department to adopt rules establishing the procedures for applying for and issuing such certificates; requiring the department to issue a certificate under certain circumstances; providing for the expiration of and reapplication for the certificate; providing for sealing of certain records up the department's determination of eligibility; providing requirements for the petition for expunction; providing criminal hb1597-00 HB 1597 penalties; providing for the court's authority over its own procedures, with an exception; requiring the court to order the expunction of a criminal history record under certain circumstances; providing that expunction of certain criminal history records does not affect eligibility for expunction of other criminal history records; providing procedures for processing expunction petitions and orders; providing that a person granted an expunction may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the underlying arrest or conviction, with exceptions; providing that a person may not be deemed to have committed perjury or otherwise held liable for giving a false statement if he or she fails to recite or acknowledge an expunged criminal history record; amending s. 943.0595, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the act; providing effective dates. WHEREAS, cannabis prohibition had a devastating impact on communities across Florida and across the United States, and WHEREAS, persons convicted of a cannabis offense and their families suffer the long-term consequences of prohibition while some individuals have a more difficult time entering the cannabis industry due, in part, to a lack of access to capital, hb1597-00 HB 1597 business space, technical support, and regulatory compliance assistance, and WHEREAS, offering technical support, regulatory compliance assistance, and assistance with securing the capital necessary to begin a business will further reduce barriers to licensure and employment in the regulated industry, and WHEREAS, offering such support will also aid the state in its goal of eliminating or reducing the illicit cannabis market by bringing more people into the legal marketplace, and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to ensure that persons most harmed by cannabis criminalization and poverty be offered assistance to enter the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry as entrepreneurs or as employees with high quality, well-paying jobs, and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act that the cannabis industry be representative of the state's population, and that barriers to entering the industry are reduced through support of cannabis equity programs, NOW, THEREFORE,

Committee Categories

Anika Omphroy (D)*, 

Died in Regulatory Reform Subcommittee (on 04/30/2021)

Official Document