Hester Jordan Burkhalter, 69, was arrested at the theme park in April, when an off-duty Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy found the cannabis-based product in her purse at a checkpoint, according to a police report.
The glass bottle said it contained a peppermint CBD tincture with zero milligrams of THC, the chemical contained within cannabis that induces a euphoric feeling.
The arrest would land her a felony charge and a 12-hour stay in jail before posting a $2,000 bond, despite the note from her doctor that Burkhalter had in her purse at the time of the arrest. The charges were later dropped. Although CBD-infused products are currently sold in the Sunshine State after a 2018 federal law legalized industrial hemp – the plant CBD is extracted from – it remains illegal in Florida.
Recently, state lawmakers passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for the industry, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to sign it into law. News 13 reports Burkhalter is being represented by Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who represented Trayvon Martin's family following the 17-year-old's killing in Sanford.
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This article appears in May 9-16, 2019.