A Republican-backed proposal in Florida to impose limits on THC potency in marijuana appears to have flamed out in the state’s legislative session.

GOP lawmakers there introduced two measures –– House Bill 1269 and Senate Bill 7050 –– that would “sought to preemptively ban adults’ access to cannabis flower products containing more than 30 percent THC,” according to NORML.

Recreational cannabis for adults remains illegal in Florida, although voters in the Sunshine State could have the opportunity to change that come November. 

The Florida Supreme Court is set to hand down a ruling on whether or not a proposed amendment to legalize cannabis for adults aged 21 and older in the state will qualify for this year’s ballot.

But with the legislative session winding down for the year, the proposals appear all but dead. 

According to local outlet Florida Politics, a key legislative committee “never found space on a Senate Fiscal Policy agenda” for the THC cap proposals. And with the committee’s final meeting slated for Tuesday, that means “the THC caps appear to have burned out before advancing to the Senate floor,” the outlet said.

Advocates of the would-be ballot proposal celebrated the death of the measures.

“We are pleased the voters may have an opportunity to vote on adult use prior to potential implementation language being decided on,” said Steve Vancore, a spokesperson for  medical cannabis provider Trulieve, as quoted by Florida Politics.

NORML was particularly outspoken in its opposition to the THC caps. In a letter sent to Florida lawmakers more than 2,000 times during this legislative session, the group urged the legislature to not “stifle the adult-use cannabis market before Floridians have even had a chance to vote for it.” 

“Prohibiting adults from accessing these products from state-licensed retailers will not eliminate consumers’ demand for them. Rather, it will encourage consumers to seek out high-THC products in the unregulated market. It will also move the production of these products exclusively underground. This undermines the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide patients with safe, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality.”

NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano articulated the group’s opposition to THC caps in a letter to the editor published this month in the Boston Globe.

 “Unlike alcohol, THC is incapable of causing lethal overdose in humans. This fact is acknowledged by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which has concluded, ‘No deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.’ Typically, when consumers encounter higher-potency products, they consume lesser quantities of them. … Rather than banning these products, regulators should provide the public with better safety information about the effects of more potent products, and they should continue to ensure that legal products do not get diverted to the youth market,” Armentano wrote.

Another Florida-based outlet, The Spacecoast Rocket, provided more background on the legislative effort to cap THC:

“The legislative journey for THC cap proposals began with the introduction of SB 7050 in the Senate, spearheaded by the Senate Health Policy Committee. The bill aimed to establish strict limits on the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in cannabis products available in the state. THC is the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana, responsible for the high that users experience. Proponents of the bill argued that capping THC levels would help mitigate potential health risks associated with high-potency marijuana, particularly among younger users. Despite these concerns, SB 7050 encountered significant hurdles in the legislative process. The bill’s progress was halted as it failed to secure a spot on the agenda of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. With the legislative session’s committee meetings drawing to a close and no further meetings anticipated, the bill’s advancement has been effectively suspended.”

The Florida Supreme Court has until April 1 to make a ruling on the proposed adult-use marijuana amendment. Both sides made oral arguments before the court last November. 

The proposal is facing a challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody, who filed a lawsuit to  in May 2023 to block the marijuana amendment.

USA Today Network reported that Moody argued “that the proposed ballot language was not clear and didn’t stick to a single subject requirement.” 

“Attorneys for the state expanded on that before the Supreme Court, saying the wording didn’t make it clear that marijuana was still illegal under federal law and that the amendment would empower the small cartel that currently supplies medical marijuana,” the outlet said. “Moody previously has said the measure would give an unfair advantage to the state’s largest marijuana purveyor, Trulieve, which contributed all but 124 dollars of the $39 million raised to promote the amendment.”

USA Today Network noted that the Supreme Court justices “appeared to favor the amendment” during oral arguments. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted last month that the court will approve the amendment, clearing the way for it to make the ballot in November. 

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Florida Representative Ralph Massullo introduced House Bill 1269 on Jan. 5, which received its first reading on Jan. 9. If passed, the bill would implement limitations on potency in cannabis products specifically if adult-use cannabis is legalized.

The bill proposes strict limitations for smoking products, concentrates, and edibles. “Marijuana for personal use may not have a tetrahydrocannabinol potency, by weight or volume, of greater than 10% for marijuana in a form for smoking or greater than 60% in the final product for all other forms of marijuana, excluding edibles,” the original filed version states. “Edibles for personal use may not contain more than 200 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol and a single serving portion of an edible may not exceed 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol.”

In comparison to other state potency limitations, Massullo’s potency percentages are much lower. Also, the definition of “potency” within the HB-1269 text is complicated, described as “…the relative strength of cannabinoids, and the total amount, in milligrams, of tetrahydrocannabinol as the sum of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, plus 0.877 multiplied by tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, plus delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol as the sum of cannabidiol, plus 0.877 multiplied by cannabidiolic acid in the final product dispensed to a patient or caregiver.”

There are a few other proposed bills for the Florida 2024 legislative session. House Bill 1435 would create “Registry Identification Cards” for military veterans. House Bill 1497 would exempt specific applicants from medical cannabis treatment center licenses. Senate Bill 94 proposes reduced penalties for a person possessing 20 grams of cannabis or less for the first three violations. Senate Bill 166 would create protections for medical cannabis patients if they are public employees.

Massullo anticipates that adult-use legalization is right around the corner for Florida, especially with the 2024 ballot later this year. One initiative, Smart & Safe Florida, announced in June 2023 that it had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot this year.

The campaign’s primary funding comes from multistate operation Trulieve. According to a statement by Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, expressed the company’s dedication to consumers. “Our investment demonstrates our firm belief that Floridians are ready to experience the freedom to use cannabis for personal consumption; a freedom which is currently enjoyed by more than half of America’s adults,” Rivers said. “With over 965,000 validated signatures from nearly every part of our state, it is clear these voters share that belief. We are thrilled the campaign has made this milestone and look forward to seeing this initiative on the ballot next November.”

However, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody challenged the initiative just after the initiative gathered enough signatures. “We want to restate the fact that the petition language for this measure—which garnered over a million signatures from Florida voters—was drafted very conservatively and with the guidance of this very court,” Smart & Safe Florida stated in October 2023. “We anticipate that the court will stick to its deferential standard of review and will agree that the language strictly adheres to the law and the Florida constitution and will give the voters the opportunity to vote on this subject.”

In November 2023, oral arguments were made by the Florida Supreme Court. In response, Smart & Safe Florida released a statement about the hearing. “We believe that after today’s oral arguments, it is clear that the language was drafted to conform to the roadmap that the Court itself has provided in prior cases,” the organization wrote. “We hope that the Court agrees that the language strictly adheres to the law and will allow the citizens of Florida to exercise their sovereign right to decide whether to amend their constitution.” So far, no more progress has been made on the case, and the future of Smart & Safe Florida’s initiative is uncertain.

According to data provided by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, 67% of poll participants said they would support adult-use cannabis in Florida, while only 28% said they would vote no, and 5% said they didn’t know, or declined to answer the question.

Recently, a different cannabis-related 2024 ballot initiative that would have allowed medical cannabis patients to grow their own cannabis at home was recently ended. In late December 2023, activists from a group called Wise and Free announced that they had withdrawn the initiative due to not collecting enough signatures. “The legislators keep making it harder for us to pass constitutional amendments so that giant conglomerates and large corporations are able to accomplish what they want, but we’re not,” said advocate Moriah Barnhart.

The initiative required 900,000 signatures, but the group also lacked necessary funding to properly manage the campaign. “When we could foresee being charged for late petitions in the millions, I couldn’t risk being personally accountable for those fees—especially since donations weren’t coming in to match the expenditures, much less additional costs,” Barnhart continued. “Now, billion-dollar companies and conglomerates are the only people who can have a say in Florida law.”

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