How to define what ‘cartoon’ means has become a key issue in Florida’s hemp debate

TALLAHASSEE — As Florida continues trying to prevent kids from getting drawn to intoxicating hemp products, state regulators are gearing up to define what a “cartoon” means — but industry insiders say the plan isn’t likely to resolve confusion over what’s allowed on packaging of gummies, sodas and other products.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will hold a workshop Wednesday to take comments on a proposed rule seeking to carry out a 2023 law that prohibits hemp products from being “attractive to children.”

Under the law, “attractive to children” means “manufactured in the shape of humans, cartoons, or animals; manufactured in a form that bears any reasonable resemblance to an existing candy product that is familiar to the public as a widely distributed, brande