Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
The state of cannabis in Kansas is currently clear. For either medical or recreational purposes, it is illegal.
But for how long Kansas holds to its strict policy is yet to be seen. The Marijuana Policy Project reports that Kansas is one of two remaining states with no existing medical marijuana laws, the only other being Idaho. With the 2017 legislative session effectively over after the passage of a state budget, it is safe to say medical marijuana will remain categorically illegal in its myriad forms for at least another year.
Though two bills that would have legalized marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes, respectively, were introduced at the statehouse this past session, both of them died in committee.
Lawmakers such as Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, argued that the profitable crop could help pull Kansas out of a budget shortfall estimated at $900 million over the next two years. He cited the success the crop has brought to Colorado's state tax revenue since its legalization, and said the state to the west could serve as an example of how Kansas might benefit financially.
But for many, the risks are not worth the reward. State Rep. John Wheeler, R-Garden City, who is a former Finney County attorney, said he is "sympathetic" to "good medical use" for cannabis and its derivative compounds, provided that there be little to no psychoactive effect.
Despite that concession, Wheeler said he is "inclined not to favor" cannabis for medical uses at this time. He explained that research delving into the benefits of medical cannabis is anecdotal and "not medically established."
"But I am certainly willing to listen should that come up, and listen to the witnesses and gauge their reliability," he said.
Wheeler noted that Colorado, California, Oregon and Washington all began as medical marijuana states and later transitioned into recreational marijuana states. Alaska, Maine and Massachusetts also have legalized recreational marijuana.
Medical marijuana has been legalized in Hawaii, Florida, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona.
All other states, minus Kansas and Idaho, allow cannabis to be cultivated in some capacity for research purposes pertaining to medical use.
State Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, said he still needs to study up on medical cannabis but added that he doesn't see anything wrong with it at first glance.
Citing his knowledge of its medical benefits, he said, "It's something we certainly need to look into."
Doll said a bill for medical marijuana that he voted for during his time as a representative in 2015 passed the House but passed too late and found no traction in the Senate.
"My only fear of medical marijuana is that I know in Colorado when they passed medical marijuana by itself, they'd give that prescription out if you had a split fingernail," he said. "I don't want it to just be a joke. If it's for legitimate reasons, and every study I've seen shows it works, I'm all in and I would vote for it."
Doll said that if a medical marijuana bill came to a vote in the Senate, "it would be close."
Next year, that might just happen.
SB 187 and HB 2348 comprise the 87-page bill known as the Kansas Safe Access Act that lays the groundwork for medical marijuana in Kansas by putting production power in the hands of rural farmers and giving the state a head start in regulation.
Members of Bleeding Kansas Advocates, a medical marijuana advocacy group that its president and founder Lisa Sublett says is comprised of mothers and grandmothers, created the bill.
Sublett said the new industry engendered by passage of the bill would create agricultural jobs in rural Kansas focused on skilled workers.
"We desperately need new industry. We need new jobs," she said. "And these are skilled positions. You have to be trained to have these positions. So we wanted to bring new jobs and new industry, and through the not-for-profit model we wanted to really help rural health."
Despite Sublett's claims that the group moved on Topeka with the bill in urgency, she said it won't see a hearing until the next legislative session, when she hopes the ball will start rolling in early January.
"We went and lobbied for six weeks straight until turnaround date and explained to them this was the year that we really needed to move because we had people who were going to die, and they did die," she said. "We lost another grandmother and a wonderful person who begged the Legislature to please move on her behalf."
Sublett said the new bill includes "copious amounts of detail and work," with input from "experts across the industry."
"We looked at all the states around us, their failures," she said. "One of the biggest failures that we ever saw in Colorado is (putting) the cart before the horse. You cannot create something and not have the proper regulation in place, and that's everything from the lab testing to what size sample, where the samples are taken ... inspections, licensing, all of that. It has to be detailed and laid out."
Insisting that while "no bill is perfect," she said putting more work on the front end will yield fewer problems in the long run.
A spring 2015 Kansas Speaks Statewide Opinion Survey organized by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays University noted that more than two-thirds of respondents favor allowing medical marijuana in Kansas, while 63 percent favor decriminalizing recreational marijuana so personal possession would only involve a fine – not jail time.
A more recent report by the same agency issued in May of this year noted that legal medical marijuana is at least "somewhat" supported by 76 percent of respondents, while 14 percent opposed it. The report noted that of the political categories, "only the strongest Republicans were more likely to oppose than support allowing medical marijuana."
"I just think that compassion is a Kansas value," Sublett said. "I think it is common sense to most Kansans. No one wants to see their neighbor suffer. No one thinks their neighbor should have to go to jail for trying to save their life or trying to improve the quality of their life. I think Kansans look around at the states that are bringing in the revenue and wonder why we're stuck on stupid."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical cannabis in Kansas, hope or hopeless? | News | gctelegram.com
Author: Mark Minton
Contact: Contact Us | Site | gctelegram.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: gctelegram.com | Your source for news and information in Garden City and all of Southwest Kansas.
But for how long Kansas holds to its strict policy is yet to be seen. The Marijuana Policy Project reports that Kansas is one of two remaining states with no existing medical marijuana laws, the only other being Idaho. With the 2017 legislative session effectively over after the passage of a state budget, it is safe to say medical marijuana will remain categorically illegal in its myriad forms for at least another year.
Though two bills that would have legalized marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes, respectively, were introduced at the statehouse this past session, both of them died in committee.
Lawmakers such as Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, argued that the profitable crop could help pull Kansas out of a budget shortfall estimated at $900 million over the next two years. He cited the success the crop has brought to Colorado's state tax revenue since its legalization, and said the state to the west could serve as an example of how Kansas might benefit financially.
But for many, the risks are not worth the reward. State Rep. John Wheeler, R-Garden City, who is a former Finney County attorney, said he is "sympathetic" to "good medical use" for cannabis and its derivative compounds, provided that there be little to no psychoactive effect.
Despite that concession, Wheeler said he is "inclined not to favor" cannabis for medical uses at this time. He explained that research delving into the benefits of medical cannabis is anecdotal and "not medically established."
"But I am certainly willing to listen should that come up, and listen to the witnesses and gauge their reliability," he said.
Wheeler noted that Colorado, California, Oregon and Washington all began as medical marijuana states and later transitioned into recreational marijuana states. Alaska, Maine and Massachusetts also have legalized recreational marijuana.
Medical marijuana has been legalized in Hawaii, Florida, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona.
All other states, minus Kansas and Idaho, allow cannabis to be cultivated in some capacity for research purposes pertaining to medical use.
State Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, said he still needs to study up on medical cannabis but added that he doesn't see anything wrong with it at first glance.
Citing his knowledge of its medical benefits, he said, "It's something we certainly need to look into."
Doll said a bill for medical marijuana that he voted for during his time as a representative in 2015 passed the House but passed too late and found no traction in the Senate.
"My only fear of medical marijuana is that I know in Colorado when they passed medical marijuana by itself, they'd give that prescription out if you had a split fingernail," he said. "I don't want it to just be a joke. If it's for legitimate reasons, and every study I've seen shows it works, I'm all in and I would vote for it."
Doll said that if a medical marijuana bill came to a vote in the Senate, "it would be close."
Next year, that might just happen.
SB 187 and HB 2348 comprise the 87-page bill known as the Kansas Safe Access Act that lays the groundwork for medical marijuana in Kansas by putting production power in the hands of rural farmers and giving the state a head start in regulation.
Members of Bleeding Kansas Advocates, a medical marijuana advocacy group that its president and founder Lisa Sublett says is comprised of mothers and grandmothers, created the bill.
Sublett said the new industry engendered by passage of the bill would create agricultural jobs in rural Kansas focused on skilled workers.
"We desperately need new industry. We need new jobs," she said. "And these are skilled positions. You have to be trained to have these positions. So we wanted to bring new jobs and new industry, and through the not-for-profit model we wanted to really help rural health."
Despite Sublett's claims that the group moved on Topeka with the bill in urgency, she said it won't see a hearing until the next legislative session, when she hopes the ball will start rolling in early January.
"We went and lobbied for six weeks straight until turnaround date and explained to them this was the year that we really needed to move because we had people who were going to die, and they did die," she said. "We lost another grandmother and a wonderful person who begged the Legislature to please move on her behalf."
Sublett said the new bill includes "copious amounts of detail and work," with input from "experts across the industry."
"We looked at all the states around us, their failures," she said. "One of the biggest failures that we ever saw in Colorado is (putting) the cart before the horse. You cannot create something and not have the proper regulation in place, and that's everything from the lab testing to what size sample, where the samples are taken ... inspections, licensing, all of that. It has to be detailed and laid out."
Insisting that while "no bill is perfect," she said putting more work on the front end will yield fewer problems in the long run.
A spring 2015 Kansas Speaks Statewide Opinion Survey organized by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays University noted that more than two-thirds of respondents favor allowing medical marijuana in Kansas, while 63 percent favor decriminalizing recreational marijuana so personal possession would only involve a fine – not jail time.
A more recent report by the same agency issued in May of this year noted that legal medical marijuana is at least "somewhat" supported by 76 percent of respondents, while 14 percent opposed it. The report noted that of the political categories, "only the strongest Republicans were more likely to oppose than support allowing medical marijuana."
"I just think that compassion is a Kansas value," Sublett said. "I think it is common sense to most Kansans. No one wants to see their neighbor suffer. No one thinks their neighbor should have to go to jail for trying to save their life or trying to improve the quality of their life. I think Kansans look around at the states that are bringing in the revenue and wonder why we're stuck on stupid."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical cannabis in Kansas, hope or hopeless? | News | gctelegram.com
Author: Mark Minton
Contact: Contact Us | Site | gctelegram.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: gctelegram.com | Your source for news and information in Garden City and all of Southwest Kansas.
