F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 1597 2021
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to legalization of recreational
3 marijuana; providing a short title; amending s.
4 20.165, F.S.; renaming the Division of Alcoholic
5 Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business
6 and Professional Regulation; amending s. 561.025,
7 F.S.; renaming the Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco
8 Trust Fund; specifying distribution of funds;
9 providing directives to the Division of Law Revision;
10 creating ch. 566, F.S., entitled "Recreational
11 Marijuana"; providing definitions; exempting certain
12 activities involving marijuana from use and possession
13 offenses; authorizing persons age 21 and over to
14 engage in certain activities involving personal use of
15 marijuana in limited amounts; providing limits on
16 where persons may engage in specified activities;
17 prohibiting the use of false identification by persons
18 under 21 years of age for specified activities
19 relating to recreational marijuana; providing
20 noncriminal penalties; providing for personal
21 cultivation; specifying possession limits; specifying
22 duties of the Division of Alcoholic Beverages,
23 Marijuana, and Tobacco; creating a cannabis equity
24 program; providing for fee waiver and loan programs;
25 establishing special provisions for equity applicants
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26 and microbusinesses; providing for issuance of early
27 approval adult use dispensing organization licenses;
28 specifying selection criteria; providing for issuance
29 of conditional adult use dispensing organization
30 license after a specified date; providing for adult
31 use dispensing organization licenses; providing for
32 identification cards for dispensing organizations;
33 providing for background checks; requiring disclosure
34 of ownership and control of dispensing organizations;
35 providing for changes to dispensing organizations;
36 providing for financial responsibility of dispensing
37 organizations; providing for administration of
38 dispensing organizations; providing operational
39 requirements; providing requirements for inventory
40 control systems; providing storage requirements;
41 providing dispensing requirements; providing
42 requirements for destruction and disposal of cannabis;
43 requiring designation of an agent-in-charge; providing
44 requirements for such agents; requiring security
45 measures; specifying requirements for security of
46 dispensaries; requiring certain recordkeeping for
47 dispensaries; providing for nondisciplinary citations
48 for minor violations; providing penalties; specifying
49 grounds for discipline; authorizing temporary
50 suspension of licenses; authorizing consent orders to
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51 resolve certain disciplinary complaints; providing for
52 hearings on disciplinary complaints; providing for
53 issuance of adult use cultivation center licenses;
54 providing requirements; providing for early approval
55 of adult use cultivation center licenses; providing
56 for conditional adult use cultivation center license
57 applications; providing requirements for such centers;
58 providing for scoring of applications; providing for
59 denial of applications in certain circumstances;
60 providing for cultivation center agent identification
61 cards; requiring cultivation center background checks;
62 providing for renewal of cultivation center licenses
63 and agent identification cards; providing for
64 licensure of craft growers; providing requirements;
65 providing for applications and scoring; providing for
66 denial of applications in certain circumstances;
67 providing for identification cards; requiring
68 background checks; providing for renewal of licenses
69 and identification cards; providing for licensing of
70 infuser organizations; providing requirements;
71 providing for applications and scoring; providing for
72 denial of applications in certain circumstances;
73 providing for identification cards; requiring
74 background checks; providing for renewal of licenses
75 and identification cards; providing for licensing of
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76 transporting organizations; providing requirements;
77 providing for applications and scoring; providing for
78 denial of applications in certain circumstances;
79 providing for identification cards; requiring
80 background checks; providing for renewal of licenses
81 and identification cards; providing for cannabis
82 testing facilities; requiring approval of testing
83 facilities ; providing requirements; requiring that
84 certain tests be performed before manufacturing or
85 natural processing of any cannabis or cannabis-infused
86 product or packaging cannabis for sale to a
87 dispensary; requiring the department to establish
88 certain standards; authorizing certain enforcement
89 actions by the department; authorizing the Attorney
90 General to enforce certain provisions under the
91 Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act; providing
92 immunity for prosecution or discipline under certain
93 provisions for licensees for engaging in licensed
94 conduct; providing construction; providing standards
95 and requirements for advertising and promotions;
96 providing standards and requirements for packaging and
97 labeling; requiring certain wanting labels; providing
98 for certain local zoning ordinances for regulated
99 businesses; providing for nonconflicting local
100 ordinances and rules; authorizing certain local
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101 regulation of on-premises cannabis consumption;
102 authorizing establishment of restricted cannabis
103 zones; providing a process for local governments to
104 create such zones; providing requirements for such
105 zones; providing for enforcement of tax provisions;
106 providing for search, seizure, and forfeiture of
107 cannabis in certain circumstances; requiring a report
108 concerning a grant program; amending s. 500.03, F.S.;
109 providing that marijuana establishments that sell food
110 containing marijuana are considered food service
111 establishments for the purposes of specified
112 regulations; creating s. 500.105, F.S.; specifying
113 that food products containing marijuana that are
114 prepared in permitted food establishments and sold by
115 licensed retail marijuana stores are not considered
116 adulterated; amending s. 562.13, F.S.; providing that
117 it is unlawful for marijuana establishments to employ
118 persons under 18 years of age; amending s. 569.0073,
119 F.S.; exempting licensed marijuana establishments from
120 specified provisions regulating the sale of pipes and
121 smoking devices; amending s. 893.03, F.S.; removing
122 cannabis from the schedule of controlled substances;
123 amending ss. 893.13 and 893.135, F.S.; providing that
124 conduct authorized under chapter 566, F.S., is not
125 prohibited by specified controlled substance
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126 prohibitions; removing restrictions of possession and
127 sale of cannabis; creating s. 893.13501, F.S.;
128 providing for retroactive effect of amendments to ss.
129 893.03, 893.13, and 893.135, F.S., by this act;
130 providing for sentencing review for certain offenders;
131 requiring notice to certain offenders; providing
132 procedures for resentencing or release of offenders;
133 providing exceptions; amending s. 921.0022, F.S.;
134 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
135 creating s. 943.0586, F.S.; providing definitions;
136 authorizing an individual convicted of certain crimes
137 to obtain sealing of his or her criminal history
138 record or petition the court for expunction of his or
139 her criminal history record under certain
140 circumstances; requiring the individual to first
141 obtain a certificate of eligibility from the
142 Department of Law Enforcement; requiring the
143 department to adopt rules establishing the procedures
144 for applying for and issuing such certificates;
145 requiring the department to issue a certificate under
146 certain circumstances; providing for the expiration of
147 and reapplication for the certificate; providing for
148 sealing of certain records up the department's
149 determination of eligibility; providing requirements
150 for the petition for expunction; providing criminal
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151 penalties; providing for the court's authority over
152 its own procedures, with an exception; requiring the
153 court to order the expunction of a criminal history
154 record under certain circumstances; providing that
155 expunction of certain criminal history records does
156 not affect eligibility for expunction of other
157 criminal history records; providing procedures for
158 processing expunction petitions and orders; providing
159 that a person granted an expunction may lawfully deny
160 or fail to acknowledge the underlying arrest or
161 conviction, with exceptions; providing that a person
162 may not be deemed to have committed perjury or
163 otherwise held liable for giving a false statement if
164 he or she fails to recite or acknowledge an expunged
165 criminal history record; amending s. 943.0595, F.S.;
166 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
167 providing effective dates.
168
169 WHEREAS, cannabis prohibition had a devastating impact on
170 communities across Florida and across the United States, and
171 WHEREAS, persons convicted of a cannabis offense and their
172 families suffer the long-term consequences of prohibition while
173 some individuals have a more difficult time entering the
174 cannabis industry due, in part, to a lack of access to capital,
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175 business space, technical support, and regulatory compliance
176 assistance, and
177 WHEREAS, offering technical support, regulatory compliance
178 assistance, and assistance with securing the capital necessary
179 to begin a business will further reduce barriers to licensure
180 and employment in the regulated industry, and
181 WHEREAS, offering such support will also aid the state in
182 its goal of eliminating or reducing the illicit cannabis market
183 by bringing more people into the legal marketplace, and
184 WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
185 this act to ensure that persons most harmed by cannabis
186 criminalization and poverty be offered assistance to enter the
187 multi-billion dollar cannabis industry as entrepreneurs or as
188 employees with high quality, well-paying jobs, and
189 WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
190 this act that the cannabis industry be representative of the
191 state's population, and that barriers to entering the industry
192 are reduced through support of cannabis equity programs, NOW,
193 THEREFORE,
194
195 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
196
197 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Florida Adult Use
198 and Equity Act."
199 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
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200 20.165, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
201 20.165 Department of Business and Professional
202 Regulation.—There is created a Department of Business and
203 Professional Regulation.
204 (2) The following divisions of the Department of Business
205 and Professional Regulation are established:
206 (b) Division of Alcoholic Beverages, Marijuana, and
207 Tobacco.
208 Section 3. Section 561.025, Florida Statutes, is amended
209 to read:
210 561.025