Floridians have had a lot to celebrate recently when it comes to cannabis culture. The state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana was lifted this week, and other limits on regional dispensary locations have likewise been challenged. Those looking to toast to a cannabis-filled future are also looking at a cup that’s half full — Ybor City’s Fat Dog Distillery has announced the launch of the company’s hemp-infused gin and vodka, Nirvana Spirits.
An important note: those who are not up on their weed terminology may be a bit thrown off by Nirvana’s vague marketing language, which centers on its “cannabis-infused” products. Though technically correct, it is so vague as to be misleading. Make no mistake, these are non-psychoactive hemp-based products with no marijuana in them and very low levels of THC. Hemp products tend to have less than a .5 percent concentration of the trippier cannabinoid.
The floodgates to hemp products have been opened up with the passage late last year of the new US Farm Bill, which amended the Controlled Substances Act to omit the ban of hemp production and research. Florida is on the brink of passing legislation that would legalize hemp agriculture, as well as establish hemp pilot programs at institutions of higher education.
The Nirvana campaign takes on a recent Wall Street Journal article that held that cannabis beverages, for all the commercial speculation surrounding them, actually don’t taste that great. “This is simply not true with our product,” CEO of Fat Dog Spirits Dr. Rama Ramcharran told ABC Action News. “I challenge anyone to try it and tell me that it tastes like oil or a ‘barnyard’!”
The gin-making