Smoking marijuana, even medical marijuana you’re legally allowed to use, is illegal while driving or even riding in a vehicle in Florida. You can’t use it in public or on school transportation, on a boat, or even in public view.
What about a refreshing low-THC beverage?
It’s a tricky question, and the answer depends on which type you’re talking about: the drinks you get from your gas station or the ones you buy from a medical marijuana dispensary.
Either way, let’s establish right up front: consuming anything that affects your judgment or reaction time, either while driving or before you get behind the wheel, is dangerous and can get you serious fines and jail time, even if you don’t hurt anybody.
DUI in Florida also includes cannabis use, and if a law enforcement officer judges that you are impaired, it may not matter much how you got that way.
THC beverages are drinks infused with THC, the main cannabinoid found in cannabis that creates the euphoric effect. Effects kick in more quickly than edibles, and a wide variety of flavors are available. Low-THC drinks come in two main categories that should be treated very differently.
Medical marijuana THC beverages are made with regulated marijuana from cannabis plants and may contain up to 0.8% of THC. They may only be purchased at licensed marijuana dispensaries by someone with a state Medical Marijuana Card.
Hemp-derived THC beverages, also called THC-infused drinks, may contain no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight, and can be bought at convenience stores, grocery stores, and liquor stores by anyone 21 years of age and older. There is still a mild euphoric effect, and they can provide what ABC Liquors called “a comfortable buzz.”
Publicly available THC drinks exist due to a loophole in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also called the 2018 Farm Bill). Marijuana and hemp are both cannabis plants, but while the bill classifies marijuana as a federally controlled illegal substance, it exempts hemp since its sturdy fibers are extremely useful, and it has a drastically lower THC content.
However, “lower” doesn’t mean “none.” THC does still naturally occur in hemp, and under the Farm Bill, products containing hemp-derived THC are technically legal as long as they stay under the 0.3% THC limit.
Many states, including Florida, have tried to ban or regulate the ensuing flood of THC-infused drinks and other unregulated, untested hemp-THC-infused vape oil, gummies, cookies, and other products that quickly spread across the country, with varying degrees of success.
However, the hemp market is huge, and many small retailers and breweries have seen dramatic booms in sales with hemp-derived THC products. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a 2024 bill that would have outlawed low-THC hemp products in the state, saying that it “would introduce dramatic disruption and harm to many small retail and manufacturing businesses in Florida.”
It may be a moot point. Buried in the bill last year that ended the 43-day federal government shutdown was a provision to ban all hemp-derived THC products, which will take effect in November. The industry and several U.S. lawmakers are working to craft regulations to allow some form of hemp THC products to continue, but there’s no assurance they’ll get them.
Yes, in some situations, according to current statutes. Please note that this is not a legal opinion, and any specific questions on use cases should be addressed to a lawyer.
Medical marijuana low-THC drinks: It is illegal to use medical marijuana in any form on any type of public transportation; in a vehicle, aircraft, or motorboat; in a public place; in a correctional facility, at a school (unless it’s being administered to a licensed underage patient by a professional), or in a workplace unless the employer allows it.
Except for low-THC medical marijuana, which is specifically exempted from the prohibitions against use in public, on public transportation, or in conveyances under the statute’s definition of “medical use” and in the listed penalties, as long as it’s “not in a form for smoking.” The Florida Board of Medicine also says “public use is illegal, except for low-THC cannabis.”
Off-the-shelf THC-infused drinks: THC-infused drinks are not classified as either marijuana or alcohol in Florida law. There is currently no restriction against drinking them while driving or riding in a vehicle.
Not for lack of trying, though. There were three different bills filed during the 2026 Florida legislative session to make it illegal.
SB 1056 and SB 1368 would each have added THC-infused drinks to Florida’s open container laws, making it illegal to have any open low-THC drink while driving in a vehicle, as a passenger in a vehicle, or while sitting in a stopped or parked vehicle on the road, among other restrictions. A third bill, HB 1003, was revised to only apply to open containers of medical marijuana. All three died in committees.
A very different question is, should you do it even if it’s technically legal? It could bring some strict penalties, including high fines, jail time, and up to a year’s suspension of your license, even for a first offense where no one was hurt.
Under the influence of THC, you can experience a slowed reaction time, limited short-term memory functions, decreased hand-eye coordination, weakened concentration, drowsiness, difficulty perceiving time and distance, and a false sense of alertness, none of which is good behind the wheel, according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department (FLHSMV). THC also affects everyone differently, and traces can remain in a person’s system for days, Healthline said.
According to the FLHSMV, driving under the influence means:
All DUI convictions may bring mandatory DUI school and substance abuse evaluations, up to 50 hours of community service, and probation. Penalties also go up if there were minors in the vehicle at the time.
Serious bodily injury to another person makes it a third-degree felony, with jail time up to 5 years and a fine up to $5,000, with a driver’s license suspension of minimum 3 years.
If your actions while driving under the impairment of marijuana result in the death of any human being or unborn child, it becomes DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide, which can be a second- or third-degree felony, depending. A second-degree felony brings jail time up to 15 years and a fine up to $10,000.
If the driver leaves the scene, it becomes a first-degree felony, with up to 30 years in jail. Second or subsequent convictions that result in death are also first-degree felonies.
Your best, safest bet: take it home and enjoy it there.
It’s different for everyone based on body size, metabolism, how you ingested it, how much THC was in whatever you ingested, and how regularly you use it.
If you eat or drink THC, it is absorbed into your bloodstream through your liver. Most of it, you’ll excrete, but while your high may only last a couple of hours, some effects can last up through the next day, according to Healthline.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.