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CBD resolution finalized

CBD resolution finalized

ANNA MARIA – The city commission has adopted a resolution providing the sales and registration requirements allowing existing CBD and hemp sellers to continue those sales by acquiring city-approved grandfathering status.

City Attorney Becky Vose presented Resolution 24-796 to the city commission on May 23 and the commission unanimously adopted the resolution on first and final reading. Vose plans to present the accompanying grandfathering registration form on June 13.

The adopted resolution and the still-pending registration form will work in unison with a recently amended city ordinance prohibiting the sale, processing or manufacturing of any product derived from cannabis (marijuana) plants – including medicinal marijuana, CBD and hemp products – while creating grandfathering exceptions for businesses that already sold limited amounts of CBD and/or hemp products as of April 1.

There are currently no full-blown CBD stores in Anna Maria and the commission’s goal is to prevent that from happening. The grandfathering provision cannot be obtained by an existing business or a new business after July 1.

The recently-adopted grandfathering provision, the newly-adopted city resolution and the soon-to-be-approved registration form satisfy the mayor and commission’s regulatory concerns while still allowing those few existing businesses to continue selling the CBD and hemp products that few realized were illegal in Anna Maria until earlier this year.

CBD and hemp products are legal statewide but Anna Maria is an exception to that rule, similar to a dry city or county that doesn’t allow alcohol sales. State-compliant CBD sales are allowed in the neighboring city of Holmes Beach, throughout Bradenton and in unincorporated Manatee County.

RESOLUTION PRESENTED

When presenting the resolution to the city commission on May 23, Vose said, “As you recall, we did change our marijuana ordinance having to do with businesses that have a fixed physical location, not to include mobile sales, in the city of Anna Maria and sell products that would otherwise be prohibited in the ordinance. This would allow them to continue.”

The resolution states all grandfa­thering applications must be submit­ted to the city by July 1 on forms to be provided by the city.

“In addition to information about the grandfather applicant and location, the grandfather applications must include a listing of relevant products sold by the business and the quantity of such products that were purchased/sold from March 1-31 and photographs of then-current supplies of relevant products,” the resolution states.

The resolution also states, “Grandfather applications must be submitted under oath and notarized.”

Vose noted the resolution gives the mayor the authority to oversee and tweak the registration and enforcement processes as needed.

COMMISSION INSIGHTS

Commissioner Gary McMullen questioned the need for the grandfathered businesses to list and photograph their CBD and/or hemp product inventory and whether that might be burdensome for the business owners.

“It’s in the very recent past and they should be able to give us that information,” Vose responded. “Then they’d give us photographs of then-current supplies of the product so we have some kind of feel for the product they have.”

Vose said there’s a finite number of hemp and CBD products already being offered for sale in Anna Maria and those business owners already have a pretty good idea of what they have and how much they’re selling.

“I don’t think this will be terribly burdensome, but if it ends up being terribly burdensome, there is the authority for the mayor to tweak this,” Vose said. “We don’t want a gift shop that happens to sell some CBD products to all of the sudden turn into a head shop where 95% of what they sell are these products.”

CBD resolution finalized
Cool Beans AMI sells a limited amount of CBD products. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Commissioner Charlie Salem said, “I think the intent is to make sure we’re not going beyond the grandfathering. Let’s let them continue what they’ve been doing but you don’t want them to be exclusive dealers of a much broader set of these products. I think this is a way to make sure there’s something on record so we all can rest easy that they’re going to comply with what they get through the grandfathering.”

“This resolution effectively is putting a stake in the ground,” Commissioner Mark Short said, noting the resolution states that grandfathered businesses can’t increase their CBD or hemp product offerings. “It’s limiting them to where they were at as of April 1st.”

Short noted the city is aware of three Anna Maria businesses currently selling CBD or hemp products, but there might be more.

The North Shore Café offers food and drink items made with hemp powder that contains trace amounts of THC. The Cool Beans AMI coffee shop sells CBD items in addition to its coffee, food, beverage and other offerings. AMI Beach & Dog Supply sells canine-grade CBD products among its many other offerings.

Mayor Dan Murphy said the plan is to contact every business that operates in Anna Maria and ask them if they’re carrying any CBD or hemp products. If so, they have until July 1 to register for the grandfathering provision. Murphy said the business owners will be given a copy of the resolution so they know what’s expected of them.

“I’m not going to make it burdensome,” Murphy pledged.

The city’s efforts to regulate CBD sales come at a time when additional CBD restrictions proposed by the Florida Legislature are still awaiting a final decision by Gov. Ron DeSantis. If the state decreases the allowed potency and THC content of CBD products, Anna Maria’s CBD grandfathered sellers must comply with the new state law.

CBD, hemp grandfathering status advances

ANNA MARIA – The city is one step closer to adopting a new ordinance that will grant grandfathering status for businesses that already sold CBD and/or hemp products as of April 1.

On April 25, a previously discussed city ordinance, Ordinance 24-923, was presented to the city commission on first reading. The second reading and final adoption of the ordinance is expected on May 9.

The ordinance amends Section 34-2 of the city’s code of ordinances, which currently prohibits the growth, distribution, or sale of marijuana, medical marijuana, or any product derived from the cannabis plant, including hemp and CBD.

According to the proposed amended ordinance, “The growing, processing, distributing and sale of marijuana within the city limits of Anna Maria is hereby prohibited. Marijuana shall be defined for purposes of this section to include all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin ex-tracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds or resin, including but not limited to ‘low-THC cannabis,’ as defined in Florida Statute 381.986.”

However, the proposed ordinance includes new language that will provide grandfathering status for Anna Maria businesses that already sell CBD or hemp products.

According to the proposed ordinance, “Businesses with a business location in the city of Anna Maria – not to include mobile sales – that, as of April 1, 2024, regularly sold product that would otherwise have been prohibited shall be eligible to receive grandfather status to continue such sales, but not to increase the volume of such sales, in accordance with procedures set forth in a resolution to be adopted by the city commission.”

Anna Maria businesses that did not sell CBD or hemp products prior to April 1 will not be eligible for the grandfathering status.

The yet-to-be-presented city resolution referenced in the proposed ordinance will establish the specific procedures to be followed by those seeking the grandfathering status, including a registration process.

During the April 25 meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy said the city is currently aware of three Anna Maria businesses that sell hemp and/or CBD products. The North Shore Café sells food and drink items that include hemp powder with miniscule amounts of THC. The Cool Beans AMI coffee shop sells CBD products in addition to coffee, food items and other non-CBD products. AMI Beach & Dog Supply sells canine-grade CBD products.

Murphy said any additional busi­nesses that sold CBD and/or hemp products as of April 1 and want to continue doing so must notify the city soon and be able to prove those pre-April 1 sales.

The proposed ordinance notes, “Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to allow the sale of any product, the sale of which is otherwise prohibited by Florida law as then applicable.”

City Attorney Becky Vose said this provision addresses the possibility that Gov. Ron DeSantis may soon sign into state law proposed state legislation that would further restrict CBD sales and the potency of CBD products legally sold in Florida. Vose said there’s a strong possibility that many currently legal CBD/THC products would be made illegal by the proposed state legislation.

As of April 27, the proposed CBD legislation created by Senate Bill 1698 and House Bill 1613 had not yet been transmitted to DeSantis to veto, sign into new state law, or allow to become new state law without his signature.

Related coverage:

City to grandfather existing CBD, hemp sales

Commission struggling with CBD regulation

Hemp, CBD regulations to be revisited

Hemp, CBD regulations to be revisited

ANNA MARIA – The mayor and city commission plan to review and potentially amend a city ordinance that prohibits the sale of hemp and CBD products.

Hemp is a cannabis plant that contains 0.3% or less THC, the psychoactive ingredi­ent in marijuana that produces a “high.” CBD is a cannabis product that contains legally-allowed low levels of THC.

Enacted in 2015, Section 34-2 of Anna Ma­ria’s code of ordinances says, “The growing, processing, distributing and sale of marijuana within the city limits of Anna Maria is hereby prohibited. Marijuana shall be defined for purposes of this section to include all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant or its seeds or resin, including but not limited to low-THC cannabis.”

At Mayor Dan Murphy’s suggestion, Anna Maria’s current hemp and CBD prohibitions are tentatively scheduled for discussion during the Thursday, March 14 city commission meeting that will start at 2 p.m.

Anna Maria’s hemp and CBD sales prohibitions came into question during the Feb. 8 commission meet­ing, when Blue Ribbon Events owner Danielle Lynch and Holmes Beach-based Edibles N More owner Mel Wendel were informed that Wendel could not sell hemp and CBD products at the arts and crafts show taking place at Roser Church that weekend. Wendel noted CBD sales are allowed in Holmes Beach because that city amended its hemp and CBD prohibi­tions in accordance with the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp and differentiated it from marijuana.

When addressing the commission, Wendel said she purchases and resells CBD products produced and sold by Beach Bum Apothecary in Anna Maria (no relation to Beach Bums on Pine Avenue). She also said the Cool Beans AMI coffee shop was selling CBD products.

In response, Murphy said he wasn’t aware of any Anna Maria businesses selling hemp or CBD products.

VIOLATION NOTICES

Although not named by Wendel, North Shore Café owners Nathan Scott Geller and Colleen Geller now find themselves involved in the hemp and CBD regulation discussion.

On Feb. 13, the Gellers received a notice of violation letter from Code Enforcement Manager David DeZutter.

The notice includes the city code language pertaining to hemp and CBD sales and says, “This is to inform you that it was brought to our attention that your location may be selling CBD products which are made from hemp. If the allegation is correct, please remove all CBD products. Your imme­diate attention is required to bring your property into compliance by Feb. 23.

That day, Cool Beans AMI owner Morgan Bryant received a similar notice.

When contacted by The Sun, Beach Bum Apothecary owner Jim Harwood said he did not receive a notice of vio­lation. He said he previously utilized a commercial kitchen facility in Anna Maria to produce CBD products but he no longer uses that facility.

“The (Florida) Department of Agriculture granted me a permit to use at the kitchen. Right now, the business is not operating and I do not and have not sold items in the city of Anna Maria. My billing and shipping addresses are located in Bradenton,” Harwood said.

BUSINESS OWNER RESPONDS

The Gellers attended the Feb. 22 city commission meeting and Nathan addressed the commission during general public comment.

Regarding the notice of violation, Geller said, “I can assure you we’re not doing any of those things. As a resident and business owner, we support the intent of this ordinance, but somehow we got ensnared in this ordinance because of a product we sell at the café.”

Hemp, CBD regulations to be revisited
Some of the North Shore Café menu offerings contain hemp. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Geller said the café uses hemp powder as an ingredient in some menu items and he showed the commission a package of the product used.

The café’s online menu includes an Acai Hemp Protein Bowl and smooth­ies that contain hemp protein, hemp seeds or hemp powder. Geller said the hemp product the café uses has a THC level of one-thousandth of one percent.

“They call it industrial hemp. Completely safe and legal. We feed this to our children. It has nothing to do with CBD,” he said. “North Shore Café has never sold CBD products. We don’t intend to sell CBD products.”

Making an analogy, Geller said, “The poppy seed comes from the poppy plant. The poppy plant also produces opium and heroin. No one is making poppy seeds illegal or banning lemon poppyseed muffins or poppy seed bagels, because they come from a different part of the plant.”

He also said, “This ordinance needs to be more specific and actually go after CBD products and synthetic CBDs.”

In response, Murphy said the cur­rent ordinance was enacted in 2015 to prohibit medical marijuana dispensa­ries before Florida voters approved the sale of medical marijuana. All three Anna Maria Island cities prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries and Holmes Beach is the only Island city that permits CBD sales.

“We didn’t want pot dispensaries in the city and we didn’t want smoke shops. That’s what that commission was after,” Murphy said, noting none of the current commissioners were in office in 2015.

Commissioner Jon Crane asked if the Gellers could wait until after the March 14 meeting to address the code enforcement citation they received. Murphy said the city is compelled to enforce the ordinance but the mayor has some discretion as to how the enforcement is conducted.

The commission unanimously supported Murphy’s suggestion to place the matter on the agenda for its March 14 meeting.

STATE, FEDERAL LAWS

According to the Florida Depart­ment of Agriculture and Consumer Services website, the 2018 Farm Bill adopted by the federal government created a process for states and tribal governments to establish state hemp programs in which individuals could legally cultivate hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

In 2019, the Florida Legislature adopted a state hemp program in which hemp is considered an agricultural commodity and hemp-derived cannabi­noids are not controlled substances or adulterants. State laws defines hemp as any part of the cannabis plant that does not contain more than 0.3% of THC.

Related coverage: Craft fair prompts CBD sales discussion

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products

HOLMES BEACH – Offering a wide variety of CBD products and more, Morgan and Ben Bryant recently celebrated the two-year anniversary of their Live Naturally store in Holmes Beach.

The Holmes Beach residents opened Live Naturally in 2019 and their product offerings continue to expand as they enter their third year of operations. Located at 5337 Gulf Drive, Suite 200, Live Naturally is the business on Anna Maria Island that specializes in CBD and other hemp-derived products.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally is located 5337 Gulf Drive, Suite 200, in Holmes Beach, around the corner from the Freckled Fin. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

CBD is a cannabinoid derived from hemp plants but it contains zero or minimal amounts of THC – the psychoactive ingredient that makes marijuana users feel high or euphoric. CBD products are regulated and legal.

When discussing the benefits of CBD, Morgan said, “It has relaxing properties and many other different helpful properties for the body. We are born with endocannabinoid receptors, so the body is naturally very receptive to CBD. We have a lot of people that use CBD for sleep and it can help the body internally in many ways as well.”

“We have our topical CBD cream called ‘Keep Movin’ Cream’ that’s our biggest seller. We ship it to one customer who has fibromyalgia. She said she’s never had anything help her as much as our cream has,” she added. “We had a lady who had shingles and our cream gave her a lot of relief. I use it for my back with two herniated discs, and it provides incredible relief. It sells for $39.99 and several of our customers’ testimonials can be seen at our Facebook page.

“You can also take CBD internally. I sing in front of large crowds of people sometimes and I’ll take a little bit to feel more relaxed. It’s nice to know there’s an alternative to the other things out there. We have a lot of people that use CBD for sleep, and when you take it internally it helps the different parts of the body,” she added.

Ben explained the development of Live Naturally’s proprietary Keep Movin’ Cream, Morgan said.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Keep Movin’ Cream is a top seller at Live Naturally. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“We combined a bunch of different plants and herbs into one cream. A lot of products use and isolate CBD, which is dead and like a dry, white powder,” Ben said. “You don’t get as much benefit from the plant when the product you start with is dead. We use a live form of CBD in the form of a distillate. It’s a lot harder to make into a cream, and it’s more expensive. We also use essential oils that have helpful properties, like lavender and peppermint oil. We use an arnica flower extract that helps reduce inflammation and relieve muscle soreness. We also added an ancient Native American root herb that the Native Americans used to heal broken bones, tendons, ligaments and joints. We combined all these things into a nice cream that’s not too oily or greasy and that has no detectable THC.”

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally offers a wide variety of CBD gummies. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“We used to have a cannabis farm in Sonoma County, California. That’s where I got my knowledge as to how to create this cream. We own the formula and pay a company to manufacture it. We developed our cream with a team of scientists we hired from Virginia Tech. It’s a rewarding feeling to know our product works so well,” Ben said.

“We offer a lot of products that are THC-free or have non-detectable THC for people that don’t want the cannabis product,” he added. “We have people in this community that hold public positions and cannot have THC. We carry Wyld gummies, which we think is the best brand in the country for non-THC gummies. Some of our tinctures contain no THC.”

“We work hard to make sure those CBD products are safe for them to use. There are different types of CBD and the full-spectrum products that do contain a little THC. We make sure the ones that are not supposed to have THC in them don’t,” Morgan noted.

“Marijuana dispensaries are prohibited on the Island. Live Naturally is a hemp business. If you’re on vacation in Florida with a medical marijuana card from another state you cannot go to a dispensary here. But someone on vacation can pick up a hemp-derived product at Live Naturally with the Delta 8 THC. Delta 8 is hemp-derived THC is much different than the well-known marijuana Delta 9 carbon compound found in the plant. This gives the user a much lighter and less psychoactive experience than regular THC. A lot of people prefer that, especially with the edibles. They’re happy they found something they can use that is much less of an ‘experience’ than Delta 9 THC and everything is hemp-derived,” Ben said.
Live Naturally also sells products that contain Delta 9 THC.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally offers a wide variety of CBD tinctures and other hemp-derived products. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“We have Willie Nelson’s ‘Willie’s Remedy’ full-spectrum coffee and tea. Full-spectrum means it’s going to have up to .3% of Delta 9 THC per milligram per gram. That’s the most allowed under the Farm Bill Act of 2018. We also have JuJu Royal tinctures and gummies from Bob Marley’s son, Julian,” Ben said.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally sells CBD cookies and other edible products. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“We carry a wide range of edibles and other products from all over the country. We source a lot of them from Oregon and Colorado and a lot of these products are made to order, like our hand-crafted caramels from Oregon. We have a version that also has the cannabis compound called CBN, which also helps with sleep. We have cookies that are gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free and vegan. We have vegan gummies, organic gummies and gummies that range in strength from 10 milligrams per piece to 50 milligrams per piece. We also have syrups you can add to your favorite drink and we have sublingual tinctures in the Delta 8 variety,” Ben said.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally sells smokeable CBD flower and dabs. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“We carry the 2021 Hemp Cannabis Cup winner for Delta 8 flower, by Alliance Flower. We have the concentrate form in dabs, too. We have Delta 8 Moon Rocks and we have five or six different brands of pre-rolls. My favorite pre-roll is the Woodstock brand. They’re the only company I’ve seen in the whole country that’s FDA registered and GMP certified, which means it’s manufactured to the highest standards, like our Keep Movin’ Cream,” Ben said.

Live Naturally sells essential oils bracelets made by Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer’s daughter, Christina Tokajer Walker.

“You add essential oils that soak into the lava rocks and you can wear your favorite oil all day,” Ben said.

“Our pet products are also really popular. We have tinctures, treats and shampoo. CBD helps them a lot too,” Morgan said.

“I spend a great deal of time, effort, and money getting high-quality products from all over the country. When people come into this store they’re blown away with the choices and options we offer,” Ben said.

“We also take the time to educate our clients,” Morgan added.

Oxygen Bar and Bemer Mat

Live Naturally also offers an oxygen bar and Bemer Mat treatments.

Live Naturally specializes in CBD and hemp products
Live Naturally has an oxygen bar too. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“Different essential oils are infused with the oxygen to enhance the user’s experience – whether you like a calming experience or an uplifting experience. Our users report that it helps with jet lag, headaches, fatigue and sleep. Users usually go between 10 and 15 minutes. It’s usually a dollar a minute, but right now we’re doing a 50% special,” Ben said.

“The Bemer Mat converts electricity into frequencies that mimic the earth’s magnetic pull, so it increases the blood flow. I’ve been using this machine for a year and I can’t believe the amount of healing my body’s experienced. We usually charge $20 a session and we also have monthly memberships. It takes about eight minutes a day. Some people use it daily, some use it weekly,” Ben said.

The Bryants are also currently opening their Cool Beans coffee shop in the Bayview Plaza, across the street from the Anna Maria City Pier.

You can visit Live Naturally online and also at www.keepmovincream.com. Live Naturally is also on Facebook and Instagram. The store phone number is 941-567-5299.