Greg Steube files low-THC cannabis bill

Sarasota Rep. Greg Steube filed a bill Thursday that would expand the state’s low-THC medical cannabis regime.

The bill – HB 63 – contains several provisions that would substantially lower some barriers to entry for would-be medical cannabis growers and manufacturers, most notably a lack of limits on the number of manufacturers.

Under current law, only five vertically-integrated licensees will legally be allowed to manufacture noneuphoric low-THC marijuana derivatives like Charlotte’s Web. They must have the capacity to grow some 40,000 plants and have an integrated supply chain from cultivation to distribution.

Steube’s bill would nix those requirements, as well as lower a bonding requirement from $5 million down to $2 million, which was a major stumbling block for some medical pot hopefuls who expressed interest but did not submit applications within the ongoing.

Sources familiar with the states medical pot regime say the bill was crafted to meet the approval of Rep. Cary Pigman, who chairs the House Health Quality subcommittee to which the bill will likely be referred.

In order to allay the fears of some policymakers who are wary of too much expansion of the state’s legal weed regime, the bill contains a new provision requiring any facility be 1,000 feet away from schools, childcare facilities or substance abuse rehabilitation centers.

A licensure application fee was also raised to $100,000 in order to deter illicit actors.

Manufacturers who receive licenses via the current framework will be grandfathered in under the rules of the Compassionate Use Act of 2014, which Steube’s bill seeks to replace in state statute.

Steube was not immediately available for comment.