A woman was recently arrested at Disney World after a sheriff’s deputy found CBD oil on her.
Hester Jordan Burkhalter, 69, is a great-grandmother from North Carolina. After spending two years saving up for a trip to Orlando’s Disney World, she got busted just outside of the Magic Kingdom when a cop discovered CBD oil in her purse.
Burkhalter had a doctor’s note for the oil. The product’s label also stated that it contained no THC, so getting buzzed on it was highly unlikely.
“I have really bad arthritis in my legs, in my arms and in my shoulder,” she told Fox 35. “I use [CBD oil] for the pain because it helps.”
The sheriff’s deputy who made the arrest reportedly said that he was simply following the law. Technically, CBD products are illegal in Florida, even though the state approved a medical marijuana program in 2016. Nationwide, CBD hovers in a tricky legal grey-area, as the US FDA continues to mull over regulating cannabidiol, despite its plant source — hemp — being federally legalized late last year.
Burkhalter spent a night in jail and was released on a $2,000 bond. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office later dropped the charges against her.
“I’m very disappointed that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office handled the situation the way they did,” said Burkhalter’s attorney, Jennifer Synnamon, in a statement to Fox News. “Why Sheriff Mina would support his deputies using their resources for a CBD oil arrest of a 69-year-old woman, but then won’t do anything about the gas stations, health food stores, drug stores, etc. that are selling it to the open public is absolutely beyond my comprehension.”
“The State of Florida finds nothing wrong with collecting the sales tax on illegal products,” Synnamon continued, “but they allow prosecution for possession of the same.”
Regardless of the law, Disney World (and Disneyland) officially banned all marijuana products in 2017.
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