Prison hemp, vape ban ready for Governor’s signature

The state has great expectations for its hemp program, approved in 2019.

Hemp and vapes will be banned in Florida prisons, after the House passed the Senate version of a bill targeting contraband.

SB 1286 will ban “certain cannabis related substances, cellular telephones and other portable communication devices, and vapor-generating electronic devices” from prisons and DCF facilities.

The proposed penalty for hemp is harsh — a third degree felony.

Floor debate Monday and Tuesday, before the 71-43 vote, came down to the hemp ban though.

House sponsor Rep. Scott Plakon said that while hemp itself is not illegal, marijuana is. And law enforcement lacks the ability to tell the difference, necessitating a ban on both.

Democrats, fighting the inevitable, offered counterarguments.

Rep. Evan Jenne described a hemp backpack, saying that under this bill, that would be banned.

Rep. Dianne Hart pushed an argument that to really target contraband in facilities, everyone entering should be subject to rigorous searches.

Hart contended that guards and employees are not searched as closely, and said that guards have been known to plant contraband.

If that is the case, they will have new contraband to plant once this bill becomes law.

“Industrial hemp” is one of these categories, and it carries felony weight.

Among other third degree felonies: Lewd or lascivious exhibition using computer by an offender younger than 18; falsifying Department of Children and Families records; tampering with jurors; threatening or compelling witnesses and informants; and recruiting people to join criminal gangs.

Now, vape pens and hemp oil can be added to this parade of horribles.

If signed, the bill will take effect Oct. 1, 2020, giving institutional facilities more leverage over their charges and, lawmakers hope, cracking down on the problem of marijuana in prisons.