Why Hemp Rolling Paper Cannot Be Used With Cannabis in Florida

Interestingly pre-roll brands in Florida cannot use our  organic hemp rolling paper or hemp blunt wraps for their pre-roll lines. An amendment to Bill 182 which legalized pre-roll in Florida restricted pre-roll brands from using hemp and tobacco with cannabis. A new clause was added to the bill which stated:

"10. A medical marijuana treatment center that produces pre rolled marijuana cigarettes may not use wrapping paper made with tobacco or hemp."

We can understand why they would want to specify that cannabis should not be mixed with tobacco as tobacco is a harmful substance and when we combine it with cannabis we really don’t know the effect.

However why would they specify that you cannot use rolling paper made from hemp? Scientifically it doesn’t make sense – the hemp in rolling paper is processed into a fiber it has absolutely no cannabinoids. It is a fiber used to make textiles and paper.

You are not protecting consumers by making sure they only smoke pre-rolls with rolling papers made from wood. We could make rolling papers out of staw, bagasse, linen, ramie, kenaf, cotton, leaf fibers and all that would be fine to make pre-rolls with – but somehow it made sense that hemp rolling paper should be specifically banned.

However, the amendment, despite making no sense, potentially did do one good thing. It seems to have allowed medical marijuana dispensaries in Florida to sell rolling papers by specifying that the dispensaries could sell rolling papers just not ones made from tobacco or hemp. Why hemp was specifically called out remains a mystery.

The bill first said:

"f. May not dispense or sell any other type of cannabis, alcohol, or illicit drug-related product, including pipes, bongs, or wrapping papers other than a marijuana delivery device required for the medical use of marijuana and which is specified in a physician certification."

However, after Nill 182 was amended in March 2019 the following phrase was added:

May not dispense or sell any other type of cannabis, alcohol, or illicit drug-related product, including pipes, bongs, or wrapping papers made with tobacco or hemp, other than a marijuana delivery device required for the medical use of marijuana and which is specified in a physician certification.

In conclusion we believe these amendments should be reserved and it should be allowed for medical marijuana dispensaries to use hemp rolling paper when producing pre-rolls. Hemp is a more environmentally friendly crop, which means that the rolling paper is sustainably produced compared to the only alternative you are leaving consumers – wood pulp rolling paper. Hemp has been used for a long time as a source of fiber for rolling papers and devices meant for smoking.

All we ask you, Florida government, is if you're going to allow pre-rolls in Florida, then allow pre-rolls made with hemp rolling paper.