HOLLYWOOD, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors walked into Ocean Wave Smoke, a hemp specialty shop in Hollywood, and found hemp extract products on the retail floor that exceeded Florida's legal limit of 0.3% total delta-9 THC concentration, according to the product's own package labeling and certificates of analysis.
That finding alone triggered stop sale orders. But it was only the beginning of what inspectors documented that day.
What Inspectors Found on the Shelves
The March 11 inspection produced 20 total violations. Two of them were marked repeat, meaning inspectors had cited the shop for the same problems on at least one prior visit.
The shop was operating without a valid food permit, a repeat violation. Inspectors noted that an application had been submitted and that the establishment was required to remit payment within 10 days, but the permit itself was not in place on the day of the visit.
The kratom violations were extensive. Multiple kratom products were missing the required "Dietary Supplement" statement on the front panel of their packaging. Others lacked the concentration of 7-Hydroxymitragynine, a potent alkaloid in kratom, expressed in parts per million as required under a Florida emergency rule. Management voluntarily discarded those products during the inspection, and stop sale orders were issued.
The kratom labeling problem was also marked repeat.
The Hemp Products That Crossed a Legal Line
The most serious finding involved hemp extract products whose own labeling or certificates of analysis showed delta-9 THC concentrations above the 0.3% legal threshold. Under Florida law, anything above that limit is classified as a controlled substance under Chapter 893 of the Florida Statutes.
Stop sale orders citing the controlled substance statute were issued for those products. They could not be released.
Beyond the THC concentration issue, inspectors found hemp extract products failing nearly every packaging requirement Florida law sets for the category. Products were sold without a scannable barcode or QR code. Products that did have a QR code did not link directly to the product's certificate of analysis within three or fewer steps. Items were missing batch numbers, expiration dates, internet addresses, serving sizes, milligram counts of cannabinoids, manufacturer information, ingredients, and net weight.
Some products intended for inhalation lacked the required statement: "Not Intended For Ingestion, Do Not Eat." Others were packaged in containers not composed of materials designed to minimize light exposure. Still others were in packaging that did not meet child-resistant standards under ASTM testing criteria.
Several hemp products were also found to contain color additives attractive to children, and some were sold in containers whose design was considered attractive to children. Both are prohibited under Florida law. Management voluntarily discarded those products during the inspection.
At least one product was held for sale beyond its expiration date.
No age restriction signage for hemp extract products was posted near the display. The same was true for kratom: the required sign stating that sale to persons under 21 is prohibited was not posted at the point of sale or adjacent to the product display.
Infrastructure Problems Behind the Counter
The violations extended beyond the retail floor. Inspectors found no handwashing sink available for the open food processing, dispensing, and packaging area, and issued a stop use order. There was also no three-compartment sink for properly cleaning food contact equipment, including jars used to display open hemp flowers. A second stop use order was issued for that.
The shop also had no written procedures for employees to follow in the event of a vomiting or diarrheal incident. Inspectors emailed guidance to management during the visit.
None of the 20 violations were corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
The THC concentration finding is the most legally significant. Hemp products that exceed 0.3% delta-9 THC are not hemp under Florida law. They are controlled substances. A shop selling them, regardless of how they are marketed, is selling a product the state classifies in the same statutory chapter as other controlled substances. A customer buying one of those products has no way of knowing the concentration exceeds the legal limit unless they independently obtain and read the certificate of analysis, which, in this case, inspectors found was not even accessible by QR code within three steps.
The labeling failures compound that risk. When a product has no batch number, no expiration date, no manufacturer information, and no milligram count of cannabinoids, a consumer who has an adverse reaction has almost no information to report to a doctor or poison control center. Traceability collapses entirely.
The child-attractive packaging and color additive violations carry a different kind of risk. Hemp extract products, including those with significant cannabinoid concentrations, packaged to appeal to children represent a direct accidental ingestion hazard. Florida law prohibits this category of packaging precisely because children cannot read or interpret any warning that might appear on the label.
The absence of a handwashing sink and a three-compartment sink matters because Ocean Wave Smoke was displaying open hemp flowers in jars, meaning product was being handled and dispensed in an environment without basic sanitation infrastructure.
The Longer Record
The March 2026 inspection was not Ocean Wave Smoke's first encounter with state regulators. The shop has 24 inspections on record with a cumulative total of 134 violations documented across those visits.
Two of the violations cited in March were marked repeat, including the most fundamental one: operating without a valid food permit. That the shop had been cited for the same permit problem on a prior inspection and remained out of compliance when inspectors returned is the detail the record makes plain.
With 134 total violations across 24 inspections, the shop averages more than five violations per visit. The March inspection, at 20 violations, ran well above that average.
The shop has no emergency closures on record. But zero violations were corrected on site during the March visit, and the stop sale orders covering products classified as controlled substances were not released.