CLEARWATER, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis could soon sign SB 1698 into law.

It caps the potency of THC in hemp products, prohibits businesses from manufacturing or selling products that contain more than .3% Delta-9 and places limits on other cannabinoids. 

State Rep. Tommy Gregory is one of the bill sponsors and says it’s about safety.

“I think that the overall limit, in terms of per container, is based on that logic to say ‘if you took everyone in this container and you were an adult who didn’t normally use Delta-9 THC, marijuana or synthetic cannabinoids,’” Gregory said. “That would get you to a place you probably don’t want to go beyond.”

One hemp shop owner, Matt Wetzel, has a store in Clearwater Beach.

He isn’t just worried about the future of his hemp shop, but about the entire industry in the state and how the bill would limit CBD products for people who use them for health issues. His own son uses CBD without THC for a very rare medical condition.

Matt, Emma Wentzel and their son Jameson, who uses CBD without THC for a very rare medical condition. (Wentzel family)

Wetzel’s son Jameson Wetzel had a rough start in life. When he was a baby, he would overheat to the point of having seizures and even stopped breathing. His mother, Emma Wetzel, recalled how terrifying it was.

“He got really warm, lethargic when I went to put him in bed,” Emma Wetzel said. “He curled up in a ball and then he breathed really loud and let the breath out and he stopped breathing.”

Eventually, they would learn that the boy was suffering from Febrile Status Epilepticus. It’s a condition where seizures caused by a fever last 30 minutes or longer. He also had a hard time regulating his body heat. His parents say he has had fevers as high as 105 degrees.

One day, Matt Wetzel heard a news report about CBD, made from a cannabis plant, but it’s not psychoactive, meaning it doesn’t make you high.

It was being used to help people with seizures. The family lived in Wisconsin then, where it wasn’t legal, but in Colorado it was. The parents made the desperate move to help their son. Eventually, they started giving him CBD.

“After a couple of days, we saw an immediate transformation,” Matt Wetzel said. “It was like…he was running, he was chasing birds, he was our little boy again.”

They eventually moved to Florida and now worry about the new legislation and that it might destroy hemp shop owners across the state.

“Gov. DeSantis needs to make a decision. Is he going to let something like this from happening again to another family because we are going to go right back to when Jameson was 1-year-old?” Matt said.

The parents say CBD is the reason their son is here today, flourishing and living life to the fullest.

Wetzel said if the legislation goes into effect in October, they might have to move to a more CBD friendly state like Georgia.