Word is today that people are still wondering if they existed briefly in an alternate reality Thursday as they watched the conservative House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice embrace a proposed committee bill that would decriminalize adultery, co-habitation and a strain of non-euphoric marijuana as part of a sweeping rewrite of the state's sentencing laws.

Was this some parallel universe or is it possible that Florida -- and Florida's Legislature -- is progressing?

Here's our story on the dramatic appeal by parents of children who suffer from rare forms of epilepsy to seek the legalization of a strain of marijuana for medical purposes. But it wasn't the only interesting development.

The marijuana debate Thursday was tempered, with the predictable questions from legislators aligned with the Florida Medical Association asking about the need for double-blind studies before allowing patient access to an herbal remedy. Then Rep. Charles Van Zant spoke. The Palatka Republican and Baptist preacher is possibily one of the most conservative members of the House.

“I’m moved by the compassion of all of this,” he said. He said he opposes marijuana but, using it to help desparate parents treat their children's maladies was not "substance abuse. I think it's using this wisely," he said.

Then there was the skillful handling of the doubters by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, chairman of the committee.

His next door neighbors, the Browning family, were among those who spoke up in favor of allowing for the decriminalization of a strain high in cannabidiol or CBD, the ingredient that controls seizures, but is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, the compound that creates a high. They have bought a House in Colorado, where they plan to take their toddler daughter, who is suffering from debilitating seizures, for treatment -- unless Florida changes its laws.

Gaetz not only anticipated the naysayers, he used his debate and legal skills and set up their arguments, only to skillfully knock them down.

At one point, he compared the strain known as Charlotte's Web to Centrum Silver -- an over-the-counter vitamin used by older Floridians across the state -- but a product that has never received FDA approval.

When the FMA lobbyist said they wanted the marijuana strain to undergo years of pharmaceutical tests before being available for families in Florida, Gaetz shot back:

"You would concede, and we have over-the-counter medications, so what is it about Charlotte's Web that is something more,'' he asked. "Go back to the FMA and ask them the questions I asked today: I want to know what is so unique about this substance that these folks are going to wait five, six, eight years for it?"

Then he compared the strain, and its trace amounts of the psychoactive THC, to the hemp products that line the shelves of the local Whole Foods store and called an FDLE agent to the podium and asked her to test the hemp products for THC, to show whether a routine roadside field test already used by law enforcement is effectivive in testing for the substance. Half of the products tested positive for THC; half of them did not.