State’s new hemp law is creating a new shift

Will change how Seminole, Brevard prosecutors handle marijuana offenses

A new Florida law regarding the classification of hemp is changing how authorities in Seminole and Brevard counties will handle marijuana-related offenses in the future.

Effective July 1, hemp — a strain of the cannabis plant primarily grown and used for industrial purposes — is no longer illegal in Florida. Though hemp plants and flowers are virtually indistinguishable from illegal cannabis, hemp has very small concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.

Under the new amendment, hemp is defined as having a THC concentration of 0.3% or less. However, labs run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement can only test to determine whether THC is present in a sample — not how much THC is present.

In a memo issued to all law enforcement agencies in Seminole and Brevard counties Tuesday, State Attorney Phil Archer said that, while out-of-state options to test for THC concentration “may exist,” the cost of sending seized marijuana to labs outside Florida and obtaining expert witnesses to testify in court makes those options “prohibitive in all except the most serious of cases.”

“Therefore, based on the evi

dentiary hurdles and speedy trial constraints we must overcome in prosecuting cannabis cases, the State Attorney’s Office will require a laboratory test result before the filing of any cannabis related charge,” Archer wrote in the memo. “You should take that into consideration before making any cannabis-related arrests.”

The new guidelines will have a “significant impact” on the number of marijuana cases charged, Archer’s spokesman Todd Brown said.

“However,” Brown added, “civil citations and other noncriminal options will remain in place.”

Asked what cases would be considered serious enough to pursue, Brown said the agency always

evaluates each case on an individual basis. “That hasn’t changed,” he said. “However, those circumstances will now include the need to justify the expenses required to bring the case to trial.”

Because hemp and illegal cannabis are so similar in appearance and smell, the new amendment also makes it more difficult for police officers to obtain probable cause to search someone’s vehicle, for example, if the officer claims they smell marijuana, Archer wrote in the memo.

“Officers should be able to articulate additional factors in addition to the smell or look of the substance, including such things as the impairment of the person and any admissions or statements that may be made,” the memo said.

The Orlando Sentinel has reached out to the Seminole

County Sheriff’s Office, along with the police departments in Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Sanford, Oviedo and Casselberry, to see whether the new guideline will change how the agencies enforce cannabis laws.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said the agency’s focus is on the “traffickers, distributors, and those contributing to the ongoing substance abuse issues across the state.”

“Our deputies have always been able to evaluate each situation on its own merits, using their discretion and in light of the circumstances,” Cannaday said. “A factor we always consider is the likelihood of successful prosecution.”

In an email, Casselberry Police Cmdr. William Nas said his department “is going to enforce the law when, and where, appropriate

in the public’s best interests.”

“There has always been a requirement that drugs need to be lab tested in court cases,” Nas added.

Oviedo Police Lt. Travis Cockcroft said the agency is “investigating them on a case by case basis.” None of the other agencies immediately had answers.

But agencies in other parts of the state have said the amendment has crippled their ability to pursue marijuana-related charges. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told West Palm Beach TV station WPTV his agency “will not be making marijuana arrests,” and said efforts by law-enforcement officers to pursue marijuana cases are “dead in the water” because of the inability to test for THC concentration.