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Law Kansas

Baron23

Well-Known Member
Key points:

"The only significant amount of unsmoked marijuana was 25 grams stored in a closed Tupperware container locked inside a safe located in Hubbard’s bedroom closet."

"The closet holding the safe was an estimated 30 feet from where Nicholson said she first inhaled evidence of unsmoked marijuana"


So, are cops in Kansas really part blood hound? 1 zips of weed, 30 feet away, behind closed building door, in a Tupperware container, inside of a safe, inside an inside bedroom's closet....and this gal smelled that?

In a much earlier life, as exec officer of a USAF squadron, I would occasionally have to accompany our First Sargent and the Security Police with drug dogs through the enlisted barracks.....even those dogs weren't going to find this amount of pot this far away in this type of enclosures. Total BS.

So, Kansas seems like the land that time forgot (very telling that there was no Kansas thread under Legalization subforum until now, yeah?). The cop lies and the Kansas courts swear to it. This is beyond stupid and the idiot homeowner should never have opened their door and let them in. This is definitely a violation of constitutional requirements for probable cause and a warrant.


Kansas Supreme Court decision in marijuana case hinges on Lawrence officers’ sense of smell

A divided Kansas Supreme Court affirmed Lawrence Hubbard’s misdemeanor convictions in a case demonstrating police officers relying exclusively on olfactory skills to detect raw marijuana can supply probable cause to support search of a residence.

The decision by the high court extended to a private residence the accepted principle in Kansas that a trained and experienced officer’s detection of the aroma of marijuana could justify the legal search of a vehicle. The ruling also resolved conflicting Kansas Court of Appeals decisions.

Supreme Court justices, on a 4-3 vote, rejected arguments put forth by Hubbard’s attorney, including questions about whether Lawrence Police Officer Kimberly Nicholson and one of her peers had to be an expert in pot odor to testify about justification for search of the apartment. Hubbard also challenged whether Nicholson was capable of detecting the “strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the apartment” while standing outside the building’s front door.

Justice Dan Biles, who wrote the majority opinion released Friday sustaining the Court of Appeals’ decision in 2016 upholding the convictions, said officers didn’t have to perform a sophisticated sensory task to proceed with reasonable action intended to prevent possible destruction of evidence.

“We are not dealing with sommeliers trying to identify a white wine as a Loire Valley Chenin Blanc,” he wrote in the decision.

Hubbard was found guilty in Douglas County District Court of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, which led to a term of probation.

A detailed search of the house after securing a warrant didn’t reveal a pile of pot on a dining room table or stacked in a secret room. The only significant amount of unsmoked marijuana was 25 grams stored in a closed Tupperware container locked inside a safe located in Hubbard’s bedroom closet. A small amount of weed was detected on a partially burnt cigarillo in the living room.

The closet holding the safe was an estimated 30 feet from where Nicholson said she first inhaled evidence of unsmoked marijuana, said Jim Rumsey, the Lawrence attorney representing Hubbard.

“From 30 feet away we’re supposed to believe she can smell raw marijuana?” Rumsey said. “I’d suggest no reasonable person could do that.”

Kate Butler, an assistant district attorney in Douglas County who successfully argued the state’s case before the Supreme Court, said probable cause was properly established by officers reporting distinct odor of unburnt marijuana.

The security sweep by Nicholson and other officers prior to obtaining a search warrant was appropriate to empty the apartment of anyone capable of destroying possible evidence of a crime, she said.

“What we do have is two officers very familiar with the smell of marijuana testify using words such as ‘overwhelming, potent and very strong,’ ” Butler said.

Rumsey said some law enforcement officers would make reference to raw marijuana in an attempt to make a case bigger because unsmoked pot suggested a person had the illegal substance for sale rather than for recreational use. He also said drug evidence from the apartment should have been suppressed, because the initial security sweep was illegal and invalidated the subsequent search warrant.

The dissent authored by Justice Carol Beier and signed by Justices Eric Rosen and Lee Johnson said Hubbard’s convictions should be reversed and his sentence vacated.

She said the district court judge failed in the gatekeeping function to demonstrate lawfulness of the search warrant and sort through whether police officers should have been qualified as expert witnesses.

A thoughtful hearing on Hubbard’s suppression request would delve into questions about the ability of people to evaluate raw marijuana odors, Beier said.

“How much raw marijuana must be present in order for a human to be able to detect its odor? How close must the person be to the raw marijuana in order to detect its odor? Does it make a difference whether the raw marijuana is in a closed container or a closed container within a closed container? How long does the odor of raw marijuana linger?
 
So Toto, this is the REAL Kansas, yeah? I know that there are many wonderful people who reside in Kansas, but I will NEVER be one of them.


Tragedy in Kansas: Medical-Marijuana User Dies After Police Raid
ennifer Hess, her husband Homer Wilson and their two sons were minding their own business on the night of Thursday, May 23 in their Eureka, Kansas home when policed knocked on the door. What happened next would change their lives forever.

The officers said “someone had reported screaming coming from my house, which there wasn’t, and I went to close the door. At that point, they forced the door open. Two of them entered the house, and they demanded I go outside,” Hess tells Freedom Leaf.

On June 14 on Facebook, she wrote: “They said they were getting a search warrant, alleging they had seen drug paraphernalia in the house.”

Police searched the house and found “293 grams” of cannabis, “all personal use.” Hess and Wilson both had medical conditions and used marijuana for that purpose, she said. “They made up a reason to come to my door, probably because there was no one we associate with to do a controlled buy.”

Wilson and Hess Arrested on the Following Charges

• distribute marijuana 25-450 grams

• possession of paraphernalia with intent to manufacture/plant/cultivate a controlled substance

• possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant

• no drug stamp for marijuana or controlled substance

• two charges of aggravated endangering a child, reckless situation to child (less than 18)

• possession of marijuana

• use/possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia into the human body

They were arrested and taken to the Greenwood County Jail. Their sons, Ashton, 15, and Holden, 11 were placed in protective custody. Bail was set at $50,000 each.

HomerWilson2.jpg

Homer Wilson, while in Kansas’ Greenwood County jail
Stricken in Jail, Homer Wilson Dies in Hospital

The story, however, gets much worse. On Friday, June 7, according to a press release from Greenwood County Sheriff Heath Samuels, as reported by the Emporia radio station KVOE, “Greenwood County EMS and Eureka Rescue responded to a call that an inmate was experiencing ‘medical issues.’ Prior to EMS’ arrival on scene, deputies began administering CPR before the inmate, identified as Homer M. Wilson Jr. of Eureka, was taken to Greenwood County Hospital by ambulance. The Sheriff’s Office reports Wilson was later pronounced deceased. Due to this being an in-custody death the investigation into the cause will be handled by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).”

Hess tells Freedom Leaf about Wilson, who was 35: “He had mitral valve prolapse (a heart condition), hypertension, bipolar disorder and ADHD, and also some issues with his ear. He was not about to die before we went in. He was on several medications, mostly for blood pressure, and on Lithium.”

JENNIFER HESS: “We were absolutely using (cannabis) medically.”

Hess, who is 39, suffers from severe depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, ADHD and fibromyalgia. “We were absolutely using (cannabis) medically,” she said.

On Facebook, Hess explained: “On June 7, I was preparing to bond out and was taken to the interview room and informed by the Sheriff and a KBI agent that my husband had a medical emergency, and he didn’t make it. They proceeded to ask me questions about his health and habits, then left me in the interview room for about 30 minutes. Now, I’m separated from my kids and unable to be with them during this difficult time, and facing serious charges all alone. I’d like to know what makes us such a danger to society that my husband deserved to lose his life.”

The cause of Wilson’s death remains unknown. “I was told the report would take about 90 days from time of death,” she says. “I’ll have to request that from district court.”

The Legal Burden Now Falls on Jennifer Hess

Hess’ children were placed with a family by a local nonprofit to whom custodies are outsourced. “St. Francis is a religious organization,” she says. “They handle these kinds of situations, and they’re going to try to reintegrate them back into the home. But I’m looking at them being gone until December, at the soonest, from what I’m told. That’s a lot of time with my kids that I can’t get back. I get to see them once a week, supervised.”

Meanwhile, Hess is undergoing court-ordered treatment for substance-use disorder, which she doesn’t have and for which she has to pay, and is going to court to fight the long list of criminal charges. About the cultivation charge, she relates, “It was because I had a grow tent, which was not fully assembled and had never been used, and I had no intention of using it for that purpose in the state of Kansas. But apparently they thought that was enough to consider it cultivation.”

In Kansas, according to NORML, possession of 25-450 grams of cannabis is a felony that faces penalties of 46-83 months in jail and a maximum fine of $300,000. Cultivation is also a felony, although in Hess’ case no plants were found. Possession of paraphernalia is a misdemeanor. Kansas does not allow residents to use medical-marijuana.

JENNIFER HESS: “Now, I’m separated from my kids and unable to be with them during this difficult time, and facing serious charges all alone. I’d like to know what makes us such a danger to society that my husband deserved to lose his life.”

One of the possession counts is for what the police suspect is methamphetamine, a charge Hess strongly denies. “I don’t do meth. I did not have meth. There was both a urine and follicle test of me and a follicle test of my husband, and neither one of them showed positive for meth. Meth is a real problem in this community. You’d think they could concern themselves with people who are actually manufacturing and doing meth.”

Hess can’t afford her own lawyer, so she’s been assigned a court-appointed attorney, Chris Pate. He didn’t return phone or email messages left by Freedom Leaf.

Hess contends that the original search was a violation of thei Fourth Amendment rights. “As far as I’m concerned, they were trespassing. When they shoved their way in, they were breaking and entering.

“I’m the kind of person that wants a simple domestic life,” she maintains. “Then these jackbooted thugs forced their way into my house, kidnapped my children, took my freedom and killed my husband. When it comes to injustice, I’m not one to keep my mouth shut. Ever.”







 
More on the freedom loving state of Kansas...wow, you just make this crap up. Wow

Kansas Hits Hemp Farmers With Felonies, Accuses Them Of Trafficking Weed
Kansas seized 350 pounds of leafy green plant material from a FedEx truck two years ago. But they still don’t know what they actually seized.

DENVER ― It was either a huge drug bust or a huge embarrassment. Kansas authorities aren’t sure which one yet.

In early January 2017, Kansas Highway Patrol seized more than 300 pounds of what they believed to be marijuana from the back of a FedEx semi-truck at a warehouse in Liberal, Kansas.




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The shipment, which originated in Colorado, was bound for California. Official paperwork from the Colorado Department of Agriculture accompanying the load affirmed it was actually hemp and that, as stipulated by Colorado law, the plants contained no more than 0.3 percent THC. The psychoactive compound is found in much higher concentrations in hemp’s cousin, cannabis, with percentages in some varieties exceeding 17 percent.

Kansas state troopers trusted their noses more than the hemp paperwork ― Lt. Josh Biera swore in an affidavit the boxes gave off “an extremely strong odor of marijuana” ― and had it seized.

Nothing happened in the case for two years. In the meantime, the federal government legalized industrial hemp and all its byproducts in the 2018 Farm Bill. Then, on Jan. 31, 2019, prosecutors in Seward County charged the farmers, Eric and Ryan Jensen, with four drug-related crimes apiece, three of them felonies.

The Seward County Attorney’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment regarding why it took two years to file charges in the case. And despite the charges, it still isn’t clear Kansas actually seized anything other than hemp.

THC levels in hemp sometimes do exceed 0.3 percent. So-called “hot” hemp can be the result of several factors, including the growing environment, flowering period, and the type of seeds used. In 2017, between 7% and 8% of Colorado’s hemp production had to be destroyed after testing hot.

The Jensens used to grow cantaloupe, but stopped after melons they cultivated were responsible for a listeriosis outbreak in 2011. Thirty-three people died after eating the tainted fruit, and 110 more across 28 states were sickened. The brothers were sentenced to 100 hours of community service and had to pay $150,000 in restitution. They decided to take part in a hemp growing operation partially as a result of the debt they found themselves in, Eric told the Associated Press.
A woman stands in a hemp field at a farm in Springfield, Colo. in this 2013 file photo.

ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman stands in a hemp field at a farm in Springfield, Colo. in this 2013 file photo.


Kansas unsuccessfully attempted to extradite Eric (but not Ryan), causing Eric to lose his secondary jobs as a bus driver and coach at the local school district in Holly, Colorado. He’s also unable to travel, as Kansas’ warrant is active in every state but Colorado.

Eric’s attorney Van Hampton, a former judge, told HuffPost an independent lab in Denver agreed to test a sample, but Kansas refused. Kansas Highway Patrol is unwilling to ship a sample across state lines because they believe it’s marijuana ― and that would be illegal, Hampton said.

The only lab in the state capable of distinguishing between hemp and cannabis is located at the Kansas Department of Agriculture, and as an administrative and regulatory body, it doesn’t want to be involved in a criminal case. Earlier this week, prosecutors told Hampton the department had reluctantly agreed to perform the test, but the timeline for when it will actually do so is unclear.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation could also perform the test, but only if Kansas formally requests it ― and they haven’t.

In the meantime, the 350 pounds of product ― worth an estimated $35 to $40 per pound if it’s indeed hemp ― have wasted away in a Kansas warehouse.

“It is now worthless for its intended purpose, which is the extraction of CBD oil,” said Hampton in an email. “It was being shipped to California for extraction of CBD when the FedEx truck traveled EAST to Kansas instead of WEST to California and the 350-pound shipment was seized ... The deterioration resulting from the two years of careless storage has ruined the value.”

FedEx Freight told HuffPost the company was simply cooperating with law enforcement.

As stands, the case is in an odd state of limbo until Kansas can figure out what it actually seized. Hampton says he filed a motion for court-ordered testing, but the presiding judge refused to hear the motion “for an undisclosed reason.”

If the THC content of the tested materials comes back higher than 0.3 percent, it’s unclear if the brothers are entitled to appeal and if they could secure an independent test. If it’s lower, it’s unclear how Kansas might remedy the two years’ worth of legal woes it caused the brothers.

Regarding that last question, Idaho set a baffling precedent earlier this year after the state found itself in a similar situation.

In February, Idaho State Police seized nearly 7,000 pounds of what it believed to be cannabis and arrested the bewildered truck driver. Even though tests later showed the material to be hemp, Idaho reportedly told the company it nevertheless intended to impound everything ― hemp, truck and trailer ― and sell it.



 

Kansas Residents Support Legalizing Marijuana By A Large Margin, Poll Finds


A strong majority of Kansas residents support legalizing marijuana for adult use by a three-to-one margin, according to a new poll.

While cannabis reform might not be on the state’s ballot next week as is the case in five other states, the survey shows that about two-thirds of Kansans (66.9 percent) are in favor of enacting the policy change, compared to 22.2 percent who are opposed and 10.9 percent who are undecided.

That represents a nearly four percentage point increase in support since voters were polled on the question last year in the same annual Kanas Speaks Survey conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. Opposition has also dropped about four points since 2019.

Screen-Shot-2020-10-28-at-9.48.54-AM.png


Kansas lawmakers introduced a bill to legalize medical marijuana during a short special session earlier this year, but it ultimately died in committee.

There weren’t any specific conditions listed in the legislation that would have qualified patients for legal cannabis access. Rather, the bill stated that marijuana could be recommended for a temporary or permanent disability or illness that “limits the ability of the individual to conduct one or more major life activities” or “may cause serious harm to the individual’s safety or physical or mental health.”

Certain legislators have indicated that they plan to pursue the reform again.

For her part, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) backs medical cannabis legalization, stating earlier this year that she felt the legislature could enact the policy despite complications from the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think that it probably would pass the legislature,” she said in April. But she added, “I think the issue of recreational marijuana is still not on the table.”

While the governor said at the beginning of the year that she considers medical cannabis reform a priority, she would be inclined to sign an adult-use marijuana legalization bill if it arrived on her desk.

“This is something where what the people want is probably more what I will want on something like that,” Kelly said. “I don’t have a personal ideology regarding it. If the folks want it and the legislature passes it, would I sign it? Probably.”

And based on the last two Kansas Speaks surveys, what the people want is legalization.

The latest poll—which involved interviews with 417 adults from September 21 to October 1—framed the question around the economics of taxing and regulating cannabis.

“There are other ways to increase the state of Kansas’s revenue that would not include raising traditional taxes. Do you ‘Strongly Support’, ‘Somewhat Support’, ‘are Neutral’, ‘Somewhat Oppose’, or ‘Strongly Oppose’ the following alternative revenue sources,” it states, listing marijuana legalization as one of three options. It proved to be the most popular choice, too, ahead of increasing taxes on alcohol or tobacco products.

Kansas is already surrounded by states that have legalized cannabis in some form, with the exception of Nebraska. An initiative to allow medical marijuana qualified for the state’s ballot earlier this year—but the state Supreme Court invalidated the measure following a legal challenge over its scope.
 

Kansas Governor Proposes Legalizing Medical Marijuana To Fund Healthcare Expansion


The governor of Kansas on Monday unveiled a plan to legalize medical marijuana and use the resulting tax revenue to fund Medicaid expansion. This comes as lawmakers in the state have already introduced two separate cannabis proposals in recent days.

Gov. Laura Kelly (D) held a press conference to announce her legislation, arguing that Kansans are ready for marijuana reform, which she said would provide patients with a critical alternative treatment option and would give the state the resources to expand healthcare with even more money left over.


We need to use every tool we’ve got to protect the health of our workforce & economy. That’s why, today, I announced we will combine common sense medical marijuana policy to pay for Medicaid expansion. pic.twitter.com/B2zdlakp5c
— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) February 1, 2021


“The bill establishes the regulatory framework for the cultivation, testing, distribution, prescription and purchase of medical marijuana,” she said. “The introduction of this bill in itself is a win for Kansans, who will benefit from medical marijuana—something that, once again, our neighbors in Oklahoma and Missouri have already recognized and addressed.”

“It’s a win for our veterans, service members experiencing post-traumatic stress or fighting for safety and freedom. It’s a win for Kansans seeking relief from epilepsy or other seizure disorders, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s disease and other medical conditions. It’s a win for our rural hospitals, for 165,000 Kansans in need who fall into the coverage gap. And it’s a win for our COVID recovery efforts and the state’s economic health and prosperity now and into the future. This proposal allows us to not only recover from the economic uncertainty of the pandemic but emerge from it stronger than before.”

Text of the legislation isn’t yet available, but it’s expected to be released in the coming days. The governor said that a fiscal note for the proposal is also pending, but she said medical cannabis has previously been projected to bring in about $50 million in tax revenue annually in Kansas.

“The time to expand Medicaid and legalize medical marijuana is now,” Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes (D) said in a press release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to pass this sensible proposal.”


In states that have expanded Medicaid, people are less likely to skip medications due to cost, more likely to seek care for ongoing health conditions, and show improvements in their overall health. #MedicaidExpansion will help all Kansans and is the right thing to do. #kslegpic.twitter.com/KWJFF6Xef3
— Dinah Sykes (@dinah_sykes) February 1, 2021


But GOP Senate leadership is already dismissing the proposal, with Majority Leader Dan Hawkins (R) saying the governor “envisions a Kansas where you can choose not to work and the taxpayers will foot the bill for you to stay home and smoke supposedly medical marijuana.”

“While the Governor is focused on high hopes and pipe dreams, Republicans continue working to create jobs and rebuild the once strong economy,” he said in a press release.

Last year, lawmakers introduced bills to legalize medical cannabis, but they stalled in committee without votes.

Kelly recognized that the political dynamics that derailed those pieces of legislation still pose obstacles this session, but she said the growing movement to legalize in the region—coupled with public support for the reform—could move certain lawmakers to embrace the policy change.

The governor said she was personally compelled to back medical cannabis legalization during her time in the state Senate after hearing testimony from a family that had moved to Colorado to access the plant for their child with severe epilepsy.

“They convinced me that not only was this a good idea for people who would benefit from medical marijuana, but just from the sense of Kansas’s economic wellbeing,” Kelly said. “We couldn’t afford to lose people—and we still can’t.”


The @KansasGOP's failure to expand Medicaid expansion has always been short sighted. @GovLauraKelly’s proposal for Medicad expansion would
Expand healthcare for 165,000 Kansans
Create over 13,000 jobs
Be cost-effective
Legalize medical cannabis
Simulate our economy https://t.co/ujVJnSl51E
— Kansas Dems (@KansasDems) February 1, 2021


Asked about the prospects of broader recreational legalization during Monday’s briefing, Kelly said “one thing at a time, OK?”

“I’ve said often that I support medical marijuana, but that I didn’t believe that Kansas was ready to go forward with recreational marijuana. That’s why we’re doing it one step at a time.” Last year, she made similar remarks but added that she’d be open to signing an adult-use legalization bill if it arrived on her desk.

The Kansas governor isn’t the first to propose legal cannabis as a means to fund healthcare programs.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said last year that taxing marijuana could bolster the state’s economy and partly pay for gaps in Medicaid coverage. Officials in American Samoa also said last year that they were considering legalizing medical marijuana to generate funds for the government healthcare program.

Meanwhile, as Kelly pushes this new proposal, Kansas legislators have introduced medical cannabis legalization bills in both chambers in recent days.

The Senate Commerce Commerce filed a medical cannabis legalization bill last week, with language that largely reflects legislation that was introduced in the House last year. Patients would be eligible for medical cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation if they have a condition that significantly inhibits their ability to conduct daily activities or if the lack of treatment would pose serious physical or mental harm.

Registered patients would be allowed to grow and possess at least four ounces of marijuana. The bill would also establish a Kansas Medical Cannabis Agency to oversee the program.

Over in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, separate legislation was filed on Monday that would also establish a medical marijuana program in the state. It lists 21 conditions that would qualify patients for the program, including chronic pain, HIV and post-traumatic stress disorder. Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited, however. It would also not provide for home cultivation.

Industry stakeholders at the Kansas Cannabis Business Association (KCBA) told Marijuana Moment that they are working with leadership in both chambers, as well as the governor’s office, to develop a passable proposal this year.

Under Kelly’s bill, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be responsible for regulating the cannabis market, issuing business licenses and collecting fees. It would also establish “a bipartisan medical marijuana advisory committee with appointments made by the governor, legislative leadership, and chaired by the Secretary of Health and Environment.”

“Kansas is now surrounded on three sides by states that have legalized either medical cannabis or cannabis for adult use,” Olivia Naugle, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment. “Kansas should join the majority of states and establish a well-regulated, compassionate medical cannabis program. People who could benefit from medical cannabis should not have to wait—and in some cases cannot wait—for the right to use it legally.”
 

Kansas Governor’s Medical Marijuana Legalization Plan Involves ‘Enlisting’ Voters To Pressure Lawmakers


The governor of Kansas wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get medical marijuana legalization passed this year.

The comments come one day after Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced a plan last week to enact the reform and use cannabis tax revenue to fund Medicaid expansion in the state.

But the policy change won’t be simple in Kansas, one of the few remaining states without medical marijuana on the books and where Republicans control the legislature. While lawmakers introduced legalization bills in the last session, they stalled in committee without votes.

Asked why she feels this year will be different, Kelly told KMBZ radio that the political dynamics have shifted and legislators aren’t going to “lose their jobs” by voting to advance the reform, given bipartisan support for the issue.

The governor said she will continue to “try to work across the aisle with Republicans to come to agreement.” But what’s more, she said “I’m also going to be enlisting the efforts of the people of Kansas who really want this.”

“They have spoken loudly and clearly on both of these issues,” Kelly said, referring to medical cannabis legalization and Medicaid expansion. “I need them to get that message across to the folks in the legislature here. I want to encourage them to vote for it, but to also reassure them that by voting for this, they do not put their jobs here in Topeka at risk.”

“This is something that Kansans want,” she said. “They want both medical marijuana and they want Medicaid expansion. It makes all sorts of sense to marry the two together.”

As Kelly pushes this new proposal, Kansas legislators have introduced medical cannabis legalization bills in both chambers in recent days.

The Senate Commerce Commerce filed a medical cannabis legalization bill late last month, with language that largely reflects legislation that was introduced in the House last year. Patients would be eligible for medical cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation if they have a condition that significantly inhibits their ability to conduct daily activities or if the lack of treatment would pose serious physical or mental harm.

Registered patients would be allowed to grow and possess at least four ounces of marijuana. The bill would also establish a Kansas Medical Cannabis Agency to oversee the program.

Over in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, separate legislation was filed last week that would also establish a medical marijuana program in the state. It lists 21 conditions that would qualify patients for the program, including chronic pain, HIV and post-traumatic stress disorder. Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited, however. It would also not provide for home cultivation.

Industry stakeholders at the Kansas Cannabis Business Association (KCBA) told Marijuana Moment that they are working with leadership in both chambers, as well as the governor’s office, to develop a passable proposal this year.

Under Kelly’s plan, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be responsible for regulating the cannabis market, issuing business licenses and collecting fees. It would also establish “a bipartisan medical marijuana advisory committee with appointments made by the governor, legislative leadership, and chaired by the Secretary of Health and Environment.”

Regardless of skepticism and legislative history of marijuana reform in Kansas, Kelly said in this latest interview that “I think medical marijuana has a good chance of passing this year.”
 

Kansas Lawmakers Begin Work On Medical Marijuana Bill, With Vote Expected This Week


A Kansas House committee on Monday got to work on a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state, discussing multiple amendments as members move toward an expected vote later this week.

The legislation, which was introduced last month in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, would establish a medical cannabis program for qualified patients. Members of the panel have already heard testimony from supporters and opponents, and so the next step is to formally consider proposed revisions.

Chairman John Barker (R) said the plan is to have members take most of the week to review the roughly 20 amendments that have been filed and then potentially vote by the end of the week.

As drafted, the bill lists 21 conditions that would qualify patients for the program, including chronic pain, HIV and post-traumatic stress disorder. Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited, however. It would also not provide for home growing.

Rep. Blake Carpenter (R) proposed a wide-ranging amendment that would make changes to provisions concerning the establishment of a medical marijuana advisory board, the process of adding conditions that qualify patients for cannabis, advertising restrictions and licensing requirements for people with prior marijuana-related convictions.

It would also strike language on entering into reciprocity agreements with other states and create a $5,000 fine for dispensaries that disclose patients information.

Rep. Randy Garber (R) also discussed a series of revisions he wants to see, including expanding the list of qualifying conditions, loosening restrictions on the vaping ban, removing a requirement to set aside a portion of licenses for minority-owned businesses while eliminating the licensing cap and giving regulatory authority to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control instead of the Agriculture Department.

The amendment would also enact protections for nurses who treat patients using medical cannabis, add testing provisions, remove a new crime for storing medical marijuana in places accessible to children, tighten residency requirements for business owners and charge fees to cultivators based on plant counts instead of square footage.

Finally, Rep. John Eplee (R) had an amendment related to the process patients would have to go through to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation. He also proposed specifying that employers can continue to enforce workplace drug testing policies. A third amendment from the representative would make changes to physician relationship requirements, pharmacy involvement in the program and laboratory testing for quality assurance purposes.

No votes were taken on Monday, and lawmakers will reconvene to consider more amendments on Tuesday morning.

“If we don’t get it to where we are comfortable, there’s always next year,” Barker said of the amendments to the bill.
 

Kansas Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee


A Kansas House committee on Tuesday approved a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Members of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee adopted a series of amendments before advancing the legislation in a 12-8 vote.

This is the second time that panel has approved the reform proposal this session. After passing in March, it was sent to the House floor but was then rereferred back to the committee for further consideration.



“If we should at some point in time run this on the floor, there will be a number of amendments,” Chairman John Barker (R) said at the opening of the meeting. “Some will get attached, some will not.”

Advocates are hopeful that the bill can clear the full House and Senate in the coming days during the legislative veto session.

In the committee on Tuesday, Rep. Blake Carpenter (R) filed a wide-ranging amendment that was accepted in a voice vote. It would allow counties to opt out of allowing cannabis dispensaries in their jurisdiction, protect gun rights of patients, clarify restrictions on advertising, remove housing and employment protections for patients and require a minimum six-month relationship between a patient and physician, with some exceptions, before medical marijuana can be recommended.

If cannabis is federally rescheduled, the revision calls for references in the bill to “recommendation” be changed to “prescription.” It would also make it so the state’s drug schedule would automatically change to align with any new federal classification. Further, it would make changes to the cannabis advisory board, mandate that marijuana be cultivated in a secure fashion indoors and require disclosures of any foreign financial interest in a cannabis business.

Another approved change came from the state treasurer. It would strike the requirement that a payment processing system be “closed-loop.”

The Kansas Department of Revenue Alcoholic Beverage Control had an amendment approved that would add definitions for cannabinoid, medical marijuana product and other terms, instead of having them established by regulators at a later point. It also fixes a discrepancy in the timeline for residency requirements by uniformly setting them at four years and moves the deadline to adopt regulations back by a year to July 1, 2023.

The Health and Environment Committee introduced an amendment that also passed. It simply moves the deadline to adopt regulations and launch an educational website by a year to July 1, 2023.

The chairman also put forward an amendment that was accepted in a voice vote. The revision is technical in nature, combining “superfluous” sections and clarifying intent on requirements for licensees.

Members defeated a proposed revision that would have required dispensaries to be operated by pharmacies, made it so pharmacists would have to register with the Board of Pharmacy if they work with medical cannabis and add a section requiring the board to adopt regulations to allow pharmacies to manage dispensaries.

Overall, the legislation would establish a medical marijuana program for qualified patients. As drafted, it listed 21 conditions that would qualify patients for the program, including chronic pain, HIV and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, it was amended in March to expand that list. Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited. It would also not provide for home growing.

Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has pushed a separate proposal that would legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) filing the measure on the governor’s behalf.

Kelly has she said she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.

While both pieces of legislation would make it so Kansas would join the vast majority of states that have legal medical marijuana markets, advocates view them as restrictive, particularly as it concerns the limited methods of consumption that would be permitted.

A separate medical cannabis legalization bill was introduced by the Senate Commerce Commerce in February, though it has not seen action beyond being referred to another panel.

The measure’s language largely reflects legislation that was introduced in the House last year. Patients would be eligible for medical cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation if they have a condition that significantly inhibits their ability to conduct daily activities or if the lack of treatment would pose serious physical or mental harm.

Registered patients would be allowed to grow and possess at least four ounces of marijuana. The bill would also establish a Kansas Medical Cannabis Agency to oversee the program.
 

Kansas House Approves Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill


The Kansas House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to establish a medical marijuana program in the state.

Days after clearing the Federal and State Affairs Committee, the bill advanced out of the full chamber in a 79-42 vote, and it now heads to the Senate.

The road to the floor has been somewhat complicated for this measure. It moved through committee after a series of hearings and onto the floor in March, but then it was rereferred to the panel for further consideration. Members then adopted several additional amendments before sending it back on the floor.

Advocates are hopeful that the measure will pass the Senate in the coming days during the legislative veto session.

Gov. Laura Kelly (D) supports medical cannabis and would be expected to sign a bill if it arrives on her desk.



“Today, a Republican initiative to legalize medical marijuana was passed by a Republican supermajority in a non-ballot initiative state,” Erin Montroy, CEO for the Kansas Cannabis Business Association, told Marijuana Moment. “This is a watershed moment, the point where everything changes and nothing will ever be the same.”

The legislation would establish a medical marijuana program for qualified patients. It lists about two dozen conditions that make a person eligible for cannabis, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. It was amended on the floor to add lupus to the list of qualifying conditions, but a separate proposed revision to add insomnia and sleep disorders to the list failed.

Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited, and an amendment to remove that prohibition was rejected on the floor. The bill would also not provide for home growing.

The state would license medical cannabis growers, testing labs, processors distributors and retailers, and counties would be able to opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their jurisdiction.

Patients would be able to purchase up to a 90 day supply of cannabis from licensed dispensaries, which would be regulated by the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). That department would also be renamed the Division of Alcohol and Cannabis Control.

The secretary of the Department of Health and Environment would have to develop regulations to administer the medical cannabis program by July 1, 2023.

The bill also makes it so the language around physicians “recommending” marijuana would be changed to “prescribing” if the plant is federally rescheduled. The state’s scheduling system would also automatically conform with the federal code.

The House accepted another floor amendment that would set up a pilot program 45 days after the effective date of the bill ahead of the full program’s launch, whereby regulators would select one company to have licenses to cultivate, test and dispense cannabis and would partner with three state universities to issue recommendations about best practices.

Other approved amendments include one that would require regulators to review the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana every three years and to clarify that patients could lose their ability to participate in the program if they violate its rules.

Members also approved a change to require medical marijuana retailers to display a warning sign near checkout counters, advising against cannabis use by pregnant women and people with psychiatric disorders—but they rejected another amendment from the same lawmaker who sought to severely restrict advertising for marijuana businesses.

The body rejected a proposed revision to change the definition of a social equity applicant and reduce the application fee for those eligible individuals by 15 percent. Another amendment failed that would have required all medical marijuana to be dispensed at licensed pharmacies.

Other rejected amendments include one that would have stipulated that cultivation could only take place on farms, rather than at indoor facilities, make it so medical cannabis could only be sold in pill form, cap THC content in marijuana products at 15 percent, decriminalize possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis and replace the legalization bill with language that would simply provide an affirmative legal that patients could raise in court if they are arrested.

Prior to reaching the floor, committee members amended an unrelated bill that previously passed the Senate to make it the vehicle for the House reform proposal. The measure now heads back to the Senate, where lawmakers could move to form a bicameral conference committee to finalize the proposal.

The governor, for her part, has pushed a separate proposal that would legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) filing the measure on the governor’s behalf.

Kelly has she said she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.

While both pieces of legislation would make it so Kansas would join the vast majority of states that have legal medical marijuana markets, advocates view them as restrictive, particularly as it concerns the limited methods of consumption that would be permitted.

A separate medical cannabis legalization bill was introduced by the Senate Commerce Commerce in February, though it has not seen action beyond being referred to another panel.
 

Kansas Sheriff Seizes Cash from Legal Marijuana Sales

Kansas police confiscated money stemming from legal cannabis sales.

A Colorado logistics company is seeking the return of nearly $165,000 in cash seized by a Kansas sheriff’s department, arguing that the money is from legal marijuana sales and should not have been taken by law enforcement officers. The cash was seized from an employee of Empyreal Logistics during a traffic stop on May 18 in Dickinson County, Kansas after being collected by the employee from medical marijuana dispensaries in Missouri.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for Kansas filed a civil asset forfeiture case in the matter, claiming in court documents that the cash is subject to seizure because of alleged violations of federal laws against manufacturing and distributing drugs, according to media reports. The unidentified driver of the vehicle has not been charged with a crime, however.

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Bryson Wheeler wrote in an affidavit filed in the forfeiture case that the approximately $165,620 was seized from a Ford Transit van owned by Denver-based Empyreal Logistics by Dickinson County Sheriff’s Deputy Kalen Robison during a traffic stop along I-70. Robison had also pulled the van over the day before for a minor traffic violation.


During the first traffic stop, the driver told the deputy that she was collecting money from cannabis dispensaries in Kansas City, Missouri, and transporting the cash through Kansas to a credit union in Colorado. Missouri legalized medical marijuana in 2018 through a voter-approved constitutional amendment, but Kansas is one of the few remaining states that have no provisions for legal cannabis.

The driver was released and put under surveillance by DEA agents, who observed her “stopping at and entering multiple state marijuana dispensaries” in Missouri. The day after the initial traffic stop, Robison pulled the van over again along the interstate. The reason for the second traffic stop is not included in the affidavit, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

During the traffic stop on May 18, law enforcement officers seized five bags of cash, which the driver claimed were from cannabis dispensaries in Missouri. A police canine unit later “alerted to the odor of marijuana coming from the currency,” the DEA agent wrote, and “marijuana is a controlled substance and illegal under both federal and Kansas state law.”

Attorneys for Empyreal Logistics argued in court documents that the seized cash should be returned to the company, disputing claims from federal prosecutors that the money was related to drug trafficking and subject to forfeiture.

“Plaintiff’s claims should be barred as the conduct which generated the Defendant property was lawful under Missouri state law and tacitly or affirmatively allowed by the action of the United States Federal Government,” the company’s lawyers wrote.

Perils of a Cash-Based Industry​

The Empyreal case illustrates the difficulties faced by state-legal cannabis businesses, which are forced to operate mainly in cash because of federal drug and money-laundering laws. On its website, the firm promises to address the challenges of operating in a cash-only industry with solutions including “low-profile, eco-conscious, armored vehicles.”

“With our state-of-the-art facilities, secure currency processing, and management services, we safely and securely manage the cash assets of hundreds of enterprises across multiple industries so they can concentrate on managing their operations,” the company wrote in a press release unrelated to the asset forfeiture case. “Empyreal uses data and intelligence tools to help maximize our cash solution, with the goal of changing the way clients think of secured transport.”

Arshad Lasi, the CEO of cannabis dispensary operator the Nirvana Group, says that many of the cash-handling issues faced by the cannabis industry could be solved with passage of the SAFE Banking Act, legislation that would allow financial institutions to provide traditional banking services to state-legal marijuana businesses. Provisions of the bill were included in a military spending bill passed by the House of Representatives in September, but the Senate has not yet approved the legislation.

“Providing licensed cannabis businesses with the opportunity to bank in a traditional manner and not be limited to dealing in cash is crucial,” Lasi wrote in an email. “Banking allows companies to remain compliant, helps them avoid liabilities, among other benefits including safety and security.”

“I’m hopeful that the SAFE Banking Act will pass in the Senate, as its passage will also boost the cannabis industry’s reputation as a legitimate and major player in states’ economies,” Lasi added.

Lex Corwin, founder and CEO of California cannabis cultivator Stone Road, said that forcing legal cannabis companies to operate on a cash-only basis is “ridiculous and harmful” and called on lawmakers to pass the legislation.

“The SAFE Banking Act would give an already legal industry the legitimacy it needs and that it’s honestly due, especially since the government has no issues collecting said cannabis businesses’ money in cash,” Corwin told High Times. “Cash dealings are also a huge liability and personal safety issue––the biggest instances of injury and death are around cash pickups and dropoffs, ultimately putting people trying to play within the legal system in harm’s way.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Gale has set a scheduling hearing in the Empyreal asset forfeiture case for January 4. The DEA national public affairs office and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Kansas declined to comment on the case to local media, citing the pending litigation.
 

Top Kansas Democrats Unveil Plan To Put Medical And Adult-Use Marijuana Legalization On The 2022 Ballot


Kansas Democratic leaders on Thursday announced that they will be introducing proposals to let voters decide on legalizing medical and adult-use marijuana in the state.

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer (D) and Assistant Minority Leader Jason Probst (D) held a briefing on the plans, emphasizing that constituents are eager for the reform and so the proposed constitutional amendments would let them decide since the GOP-controlled legislature has failed to act.

The Kansas officials noted the similarity between their new plan and one unveiled by Iowa Democrats this week that would also refer marijuana to voters. There are also several other states where lawmakers are pushing to put cannabis measures on the ballot.



Sawyer said that while Republicans have had “very little interest in passing any sort of marijuana reform” through the traditional legislative process, he’s hopeful they will at least pass the measures to give voters a say in November.



“It’s time to give voters their opportunity to have their say and let the legislature know how they feel,” the leader said. He also said that he remains “hopeful” that a medical cannabis bill that passed the House last year will be taken up and advanced through the Senate, where it’s so far stalled.

However, that bill has “a lot of restrictions,” including a ban on smokeable cannabis, so the constitutional amendment would provide for a more comprehensive program that lawmakers would need to implement.

“I’m eager for people in Kansas to enjoy the same benefits that people have in other states,” Probst said. “We are an island. We are surrounded by states who provide for their residents the things that they want. And Kansas, leadership in this building, has decided they know better than Kansans what they should have.”



“During the upcoming legislative session, House and Senate Republicans will have an opportunity to demonstrate that they honestly value and trust the voters of Kansas to decide what’s best for the state, or if they simply support public votes when it’s politically advantageous to their re-election campaigns,” he said in a press release.

Sawyer said, “what’s interesting in my district, [cannabis reform] been the number one issue for about six or seven years now… That’s what I hear the most about.”

“There are people actually moving out of Kansas because they can’t get the relief they need,” the minority leader said. He added that giving people access to cannabis could help curb the opioid crisis.

The legislative leaders say they expect to have the full, or nearly full, support of the Democratic caucus behind these cannabis proposals as well as a separate Medicaid expansion constitutional amendment they’re introducing.

The text of the measures are short and similar. One says: “Commencing July 1, 2023, and thereafter, the medicinal use of marijuana shall be legal in the state of Kansas.” The other says: Commencing July 1, 2023, and thereafter, the recreational use of marijuana shall be legal in the state of Kansas.”

If approved in the legislature and then by voters in November, the laws would take effect in July 2023.

Gov. Laura Kelly (D), for her part, supports medical cannabis. She previously pushed a separate proposal that would legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) filing the measure on the governor’s behalf.

Kelly has she said she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.

The governor said in 2020 that while she wouldn’t personally advocate for adult-use legalization, she wouldn’t rule out signing the reform into law if a reform bill arrived on her desk.



Lawmakers in other states are also pushing the idea of letting voters decide on marijuana policy reform at the ballot.

For example, Iowa Democratic senators on Wednesday released the text of a joint resolutionto put the question of marijuana legalization before voters on the state’s ballot.

Three New Hampshire lawmakers also recently filed separate bills to put marijuana reform on the state’s 2022 ballot.

Last month, a top Maryland lawmaker similarly pre-filed a bill to put cannabis legalization before voters on the state’s ballot this year.

Read the text of the constitutional amendments on medical and adult-use marijuana legalization
 

Key GOP Kansas Lawmaker Files Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill In Senate


Medical marijuana legalization is being revived in the Kansas legislature, with a senator introducing a new reform bill on Monday after separate House-passed legislation stalled in the Senate earlier this year.

Sen. Robert Olson (R) is sponsoring the new Medical Marijuana Regulation Act, which would provide patients diagnosed with a series of medical conditions with to access limited forms of cannabis.

It’s been introduced in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, which the sponsor chairs. This filing comes about a year after the House approved similar legislation, only to have it quashed in committee in the Senate in January.

The new measure lists more than 20 qualifying conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autoimmune disorders. It would also allow legal marijuana access for patients with “any other chronic, debilitating or terminal condition that, in the professional judgment of a physician licensed in this state, would be a detriment to the patient’s mental or physical health if left untreated.”

Patients would be entitled to obtain a 30-day supply of medical cannabis products at a time. For dry flower marijuana, that purchase limit would be at least three ounces. But there would be an exception “upon submission of a written certification from two independent physicians that there are compelling reasons for the patient or caregiver to purchase greater quantities of medical marijuana.”

Patients’ medical cannabis recommendations would be valid for 90 days, after which point a physician may “renew the recommendation for not more than three additional periods of not more than 90 days each,” the bill says. After that, another extension could be issued “only upon a physical examination of the patient.”

Multiple regulatory bodies would be in charge of administering the program. The state Department of Health and Environment, Board of Healing Arts, Board of Pharmacy and a renamed Alcohol and Cannabis Control division would each play a role in the regulations.

The legislation would also establish a medical marijuana advisory committee to help oversee the program and issue recommendations.

“This is one of the best days that we’ve had working for reform in three years,” Erin Montroy, co-president and CEO of the Kansas Cannabis Business Association (KSCBA), told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Monday.

“What we’ve seen here is so encouraging because it has been a true representation of democracy,” Montroy said. “This is how the government is supposed to work. This is how things are supposed to be done.”

The bill calls for five different license types: cultivators, processors, laboratories, distributors and retailers. People would be rendered ineligible for a medical marijuana licenses if they’ve been convicted of a felony, unless that conviction was expunged at least 10 years before the application is submitted.

Advocates are generally encouraged by the bill’s introduction, and they expect a hearing on it in Olson’s committee in the coming days. They say that certain provisions represent an expansion of the previously House-passed legislation, in particular when it comes to the number of qualifying conditions.

Still, there would be no home cultivation option—a policy that faced significant pushback in past sessions. And patients would not be allowed to smoke or vape marijuana products, even though “plant material” would be among the types of marijuana that could be dispensed by licensed businesses.

There would also be a 35 percent THC cap on marijuana plant material.

Counties would be able to enact local bans on permitting marijuana businesses from operating within their jurisdictions “by adoption of a resolution,” according to the text of the bill, which has not yet been posted on the legislature’s website but which was obtained by Marijuana Moment.

Regulators would have until January 1, 2024 to promulgate rules for the program.

Daniel Shafton, a consultant for KSCBA, told Marijuana Moment that this session “we have seen some of the best legislating and work on this issue—and on any issue, period.”

“The way that the chairman and senators and representatives have been involved up to this point—have done their homework, going to facilities and neighboring states, understanding neighboring legislation, as well as their ability and willingness to get all the voices to the table from activist to business owners—has shown that they understand that this is important to the public.”

He said legislators “have demonstrated every step of the way that they’re taking this seriously, and listening to the voices that will be most affected by it.”

With respect to equity provisions, there does not appear to be an explicit pathway for expungements, nor licensing prioritization for people from communities most impacted by prohibition as advocates have pushed for in other states.

Separately, House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer (D) and Assistant Minority Leader Jason Probst (D) said in January that they will be introducing proposals to let voters decide on legalizing medical and adult-use marijuana in the state. At the time, Sawyer said he was “hopeful” that the legislature might separately advance the House-passed legalization measure.

Gov. Laura Kelly (D), for her part, wants to see medical cannabis legalization enacted, and she said earlier this year that she “absolutely” thinks the bill could pass if “everything else doesn’t take up all the oxygen.”

She previously pushed a separate proposal that would legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) filing the measure on the governor’s behalf.

Kelly has she said she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.

The governor also said in 2020 that while she wouldn’t personally advocate for adult-use legalization, she wouldn’t rule out signing the reform into law if a reform bill arrived on her desk.

Read the Kansas medical marijuana legalization bill
 

Kansas Lawmakers Hold Final Medical Marijuana Meeting After Touring Grow Facility, With Chairman Previewing 2023 Bill Plans


Kansas lawmakers on Thursday held the last in a series of special committee meetings on medical marijuana issues that will be used to inform reform legislation that will be introduced in the 2023 session.

The Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, members of which toured a Missouri cannabis cultivation facility on Wednesday as part of their work, went over the wide range of issues that they’ve been discussing with officials and experts in recent months. The plan is to finalize a report with recommendations for the legislature heading into the new year.

Sen. Robert Olson (R)—who chairs the special committee, as well the Federal and State Affairs Committee with jurisdiction over cannabis issues—talked about his plans to file a medical marijuana legalization bill with the information the temporary panel has gathered in its meetings.

Notably, he said on Thursday that he doesn’t intend to include a home grow provision in his forthcoming reform bill, expressing concerns about enforcement challenges. However, he said that “it’ll be amendable” and “it’ll be changeable” if a majority of other lawmakers want to go in a different direction.

For the time being, however, the bill he plans to draft will be “fair to the state, very tight, very regulatory,” he said.



Olson emphasized that Kansas is taking a “different process than most of the other states—a legislative process, not an initiative—and I think we’ve got a chance to debate the different issues and allow the process to work.”

“I can’t support homegrown because there’s just no way you can put guardrails on to secure and know what’s happening with the plants,” the chairman said.

In the meantime, the plan is to deliver the legislature a report with the committees findings and recommendations, which members will vote on electronically in the coming days once it’s finalized. A staffer laid out the key points that will be incorporated into the report.

There will be a summary of each meeting that the panel held, including testimony from various witnesses who appeared.

Additionally, the report will go over Kansas Legislative Research Department memos that were provided to lawmakers, examining issues such as physician liability, federally subsidized housing access for patients, revenues, employment law, social equity license litigation and possession limits. Those topics were discussed at Thursday’s meeting.

At an earlier hearing last week, lawmakers were briefed by staff on a variety of additional topics, including how other medical cannabis states handle issues such as seed-to-sale tracking, THC potency and purchasing limits, local taxes, licensing tiers, social equity and packaging and labeling of products.

One member asked Olson at this most recent meeting whether he felt the work that the special committee has done would create a simpler “pathway forward” for reform legislation in the next session, given that past medical cannabis legalization efforts have stalled out in the legislature. The chairman was asked whether he had “any assurances” to that end.

“I don’t want to put my leadership in a tough spot,” Olson replied. “I’m planning on having a hearing on a marijuana bill next year. And you know, my M.O. has always been, I’ve got a long record of going places and fixing problems.”

“It’s their choice at the end of the day,” he said, referring to Senate leaders. “If they don’t want me to do it, I’ll follow their orders. I appreciate that leadership has given us this joint committee. Maybe we don’t have 100 percent of the answers—but I believe we’ll be able to have a bill out of all the stuff, all the testimonies that have come through here, that will be as good as any bill in the country.”

At an earlier hearing in October, members focused on the “public policy implications” of the reform, receiving testimony from stakeholders and advocates about how to effectively regulate the market, touching on issues like track-and-trace, the pros and cons of licensing caps and the role that physicians should play.

The bicameral committee, which was formed in June, convened for an initial meeting in October that involved state officials, law enforcement and an Oklahoma medical cannabis regulator giving their perspective on the issue.

In the midst of these discussions, a spokesperson for the top Kansas GOP senator recently said the issue is “not a priority”—prompting pushback from House Democratic leadership.

The spokesperson said that Senate President Ty Masterson (R) recognizes that the reform issue is “maturing,” adding that any federal action “would be more evidence of that.” However, “it is not a priority” for the senator, who wields significant influence over what legislation advances.

While advocates were disappointed that lawmakers were unable to pass a medical cannabis bill by the end of the 2022 session in May—despite considerable momentum and the support of Gov. Laura Kelly (D)—the hope is that the committee’s work will lay the groundwork for meaningful action when the legislature convenes again.

The special panel is comprised of members appointed by the House speaker and Senate president.

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer (D) said in June that he’s “been pretty frustrated that we have yet to get a bill passed,” while acknowledging that the House voted to legalize medical marijuana last year only to see a relative lack of action in the Senate.

The Senate did hold several hearings on cannabis reform this year, but members never got around to scheduling a vote. Late in the session, legislative leaders formed a bicameral conference committee that was tasked with arriving at a deal that could pass both chambers, although that didn’t pan out by the time lawmakers adjourned.

Democratic lawmakers made a final push to enact medical cannabis legalization before the legislative deadline, but Olson said in May that the “heavy load” his committee had to carry on other issues meant that lawmakers would not be “getting this measure across the finish line this session.”

Members of the House and Senate Federal and State Affairs Committees held two public conference meetings in April to discuss a way to merge the House-passed medical marijuana bill with a separate one that Senate lawmakers began considering this year. At the last official meeting, lawmakers from the House side went through areas where they were willing to concede to differences in the other chamber’s bill, as well as provisions they wanted to keep from their own measure.

In general, the two chambers’ proposals were already fairly similar, sharing numerous key provisions.

Here’s an overview of the key provisions where the bills from the House and Senate already overlapped:

Patients with any of more than 20 qualifying conditions—including cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autoimmune disorders—would be eligible for medical cannabis.

Patients would be entitled to obtain a 30-day supply of medical cannabis products at a time.

Possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana by a person who isn’t registered as a patient would be decriminalized, punishable by a maximum fine of $400.

Patients’ medical cannabis recommendations would be valid for 90 days, after which point a physician could renew the recommendations for three additional periods. Then extensions could be authorized following a physical examination of the patient annually.

Medical cannabis sales would be subject to the state sales tax of 5.75 percent, with the option of adding a local tax.

Multiple regulatory bodies would be in charge of administering the program. The state Department of Health and Environment, Board of Healing Arts, Board of Pharmacy and a renamed Alcohol and Cannabis Control division would each play a role in the regulations.

The legislation would also establish a medical marijuana advisory committee to help oversee the program and issue recommendations.

The bill calls for five different license types: cultivators, processors, laboratories, distributors and retailers. People would be rendered ineligible for a medical marijuana licenses if they’ve been convicted of a felony, unless that conviction was expunged at least 10 years before the application is submitted.

There would also be a 35 percent THC cap on marijuana plant material.

Counties would be able to enact local bans on permitting marijuana retailers from operating within their jurisdictions through the adopt of a resolution.

With respect to equity provisions, there does not appear to be an explicit pathway for expungements.

Here are some of the changes that the House said it was willing to accept from the Senate bill:

Pushing back the effective date of the law and deadlines for its implementation.

Removing a 70 percent THC cap on cannabis concentrates.

Out-of-state patients would have reciprocity to both possess and purchase marijuana if they’re registered with their state.

Preventing discrimination in real estate transactions to lease or sell property to registered medical marijuana patients.

Keep the Senate’s licensing application requirements, terms of licensing and rules on where cannabis businesses can operate.

Requiring certain security measures at medical marijuana businesses.

Requiring the state to enter into agreements with tribal governments in order to exchange cannabis.

Doctors wouldn’t have to start “prescribing,” rather than recommending, medical marijuana if the federal government reclassifies cannabis.

Here are some areas where the House insisted on its version, or offered a compromise:

Maintaining most of the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, which includes more than 20 ailments, but keeping its more limited language and removing glaucoma.

Allowing people to receive a medical marijuana business licenses after at least three years of residency in Kansas. The original House bill called for four years, while the Senate had two years.

Allowing regulators to create a unique payment process system for cannabis sales in coordination with the state treasurer.

Keeping a $500 license fee for associated employees of medical marijuana businesses, but lowering fees for other employee types.

Keeping state and local licensing eligibility requirements as stated in the House bill.

There were some additional outstanding items that members hadn’t quite decided on as of April’s meeting and said they needed additional time to work. Those issues are related to advertising requirements, rules for cultivation facilities, licensing fees, creating a pilot program for medical cannabis and employment discrimination.

Sawyer and Assistant Minority Leader Jason Probst (D) said in January that they wanted to let voters decide on legalizing medical and adult-use marijuana in the state.

The governor, for her part, wants to see medical cannabis legalization enacted, and she said earlier this year that she “absolutely” thinks the bill could pass if “everything else doesn’t take up all the oxygen.”

She previously pushed a separate proposal that would legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) filing the measure on the governor’s behalf.

Kelly has she said she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.

Following President Joe Biden’s announcement on pardoning people who’ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses and imploring governors to follow suit, Kelly said that her administration is “focused on legalizing medical marijuana so that Kansans with severe illnesses no longer have to suffer.

She added that they will “continue to consider all clemency and pardon requests based on a complete and thorough review of the individual cases.”

The governor also said in 2020 that while she wouldn’t personally advocate for adult-use legalization, she wouldn’t rule out signing the reform into law if a reform bill arrived on her desk.
 
"the governor is urging the public to contact their representatives to demand they take the legislation back up for action “this session.”

Good for her....frankly and IMO only, asshole politicians need to feel direct heat from their constituents as they ignore issues and positions that their electorate clearly supports. I LOVE seeing more referendums. Although flawed themselves and often badly written, referendums to allow the electorate to directly give their self-entitled politicians a big middle finger "fuck you" and push forward issues that their politicians are ignoring or stifling. Absolutely love it! haha


After Kansas Medical Marijuana Bill Stalls In Senate, Governor Urges Public To Pressure Lawmakers For Action


A bill to legalize medical marijuana stalled in the Kansas legislature on Thursday—but now the governor is urging the public to contact their representatives to demand they take the legislation back up for action “this session.”
Gov. Laura Kelly (D), who has long championed cannabis reform, said on Thursday that she’s “disappointed that some legislators are saying they don’t want to move forward with legalizing medical marijuana this year—effectively turning their backs on our veterans and those with chronic pain and seizure disorders.”

“If they get their way, for yet another year thousands of Kansans will be forced to choose between breaking the law and living without pain,” she said. “I encourage Kansans to call their state legislators and tell them to legalize medical marijuana this session.”

Kelly also said in 2021 that she would be “enlisting the efforts of the people of Kansas who really want this” to pressure their lawmakers to get the reform enacted.
A medical cannabis bill received several hearings this month in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, including two this week. Following Thursday’s meeting, which featured opponents, the panel agreed to table the legislation.

Chairman Mike Thompson (R) said that lawmakers had “bigger fish to fry,” indicating that he’s not interested in taking the proposal back up before the end of the 2023 session.
Kansas Democrats said on Thursday that the “sky is not falling in states where legalized, well-regulated medical marijuana is on the books.”

“All Kansans, and especially Kansas veterans, deserve compassionate, forward-thinking laws that improve their quality of life,” the party said.
In 2021, a medical cannabis bill passed the House but stalled out in the Senate.

Senate President Ty Masterson (R) previously said that he expected bills and hearings on the issue this year, and a spokesperson said that the senator understands that perspectives are “maturing” on medical marijuana—though the spokesperson also said the issue is “not a priority.”
In her annual State of the State address in January, the governor said that there’s a “commonsense way to improve health care here in Kansas—and that’s to finally legalize medical marijuana.”
She cited an example of a terminally ill man whose hospital room was raided by police and who was given a later-rescinded citation to appear in court over possession of a cannabis vape and extract that he was using to treat serious pain. That man has since passed away.

Meanwhile, members of the Special Committee on Medical Marijuana held their final meeting in December as they worked to prepare legislation for the 2023 session.
 
Love this one.....:heart:



Federal Judge Orders Kansas Cops To Stop ‘War’ On Drivers Coming From Legal Marijuana States

“The war is basically a question of numbers: stop enough cars and you’re bound to discover drugs.”

By Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector

The Kansas Highway Patrol has been ordered to stop its infamous “two-step” technique by a federal judge, in what the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas calls a “huge win” for all motorists using state highways.

The U.S. district court ruled KHP’s policies and practices violate the Fourth Amendment, releasing a Friday opinion that the KHP “has waged war on motorists—especially out-of-state residents traveling between Colorado and Missouri on federal highway I-70 in Kansas.”

The trial challenged the constitutionality of the KHP’s policy of targeting out-of-staters and other “suspicious” people for vehicle searches by drug-sniffing dogs, along with the “Kansas two-step” maneuver. The “ two-step” is a technique taught to KHP personnel, in which they end a routine traffic stop and begin a separate effort to dig for information and gain entry to a vehicle to search for contraband.


The opinion said the KHP’s actions weren’t “a fair fight.” KHP spokespeople couldn’t be reached for comment on the situation.

“The war is basically a question of numbers: stop enough cars and you’re bound to discover drugs,” the opinion added.

The court case came after Blain Shaw, an Oklahoma City resident, was pulled over near Hays while on his way to visit family and friends in Denver with his brother. He was stopped for speeding on Interstate 70 by Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Doug Schulte, who reported he clocked Shaw driving 91 mph in a 75 mph zone. Schulte ticketed Shaw and then walked away, before doubling back in a “trooper two-step” and returning to Shaw.

The trooper then asked Shaw and his brother if they were hauling anything illegal, such as firearms or narcotics. Shaw answered in the negative, but refused to grant permission to Schulte when he asked to search his van. The trooper then called in a K-9 unit to search Shaw’s vehicle.

Though troopers didn’t find evidence of drugs, the KHP required Shaw to report to a nearby law enforcement office so copies could be made of his medical records, Colorado identification card and medical marijuana registration.

The incident snowballed into a trial challenging the Kansas Highway Patrol’s policy, with legal defense arguing Schulte violated the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by searching Shaw’s vehicle.

Shaw and other plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Spencer Fane LLP, filed Shaw v. Jones in 2020 to challenge KHP’s practice of detaining motorists with out-of-state license plates and the “two-step” maneuver. The defendant in the case was Herman Jones, in his official capacity as KHP Superintendent.

The lawsuit was consolidated with a separate suit brought by Mark Erich and Shawna Maloney, who had their family’s RV ransacked by KHP troopers in 2018 in another “two-step” incident.

The ruling comes after two weeks of trials.

The court found Jones responsible for the practice of unlawfully detaining motorists in Kansas without reasonable suspicion or consent, especially those out of state, and decreed that the Kansas Two-Step violates the Fourth Amendment, extending traffic stops “without reasonable suspicion and without the motorists’ knowing, intelligent and voluntary consent.”

“This is a huge win—for our clients and for anyone else who travels on Kansas highways. We are gratified that the Court saw the ongoing harms of KHP’s unconstitutional practices and stepped in to stop the department’s widespread misconduct,” said Sharon Brett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas.

“It also demonstrates that courts will not tolerate the cowboy mentality of policing that subjects our citizens to conditions of humiliation, degradation, and, in some tragic cases, violence,” Brett added.

Spokespeople from the governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to Reflector inquiries for comment.
 
So Toto, this is the REAL Kansas, yeah? I know that there are many wonderful people who reside in Kansas, but I will NEVER be one of them.


Tragedy in Kansas: Medical-Marijuana User Dies After Police Raid
ennifer Hess, her husband Homer Wilson and their two sons were minding their own business on the night of Thursday, May 23 in their Eureka, Kansas home when policed knocked on the door. What happened next would change their lives forever.

The officers said “someone had reported screaming coming from my house, which there wasn’t, and I went to close the door. At that point, they forced the door open. Two of them entered the house, and they demanded I go outside,” Hess tells Freedom Leaf.

On June 14 on Facebook, she wrote: “They said they were getting a search warrant, alleging they had seen drug paraphernalia in the house.”

Police searched the house and found “293 grams” of cannabis, “all personal use.” Hess and Wilson both had medical conditions and used marijuana for that purpose, she said. “They made up a reason to come to my door, probably because there was no one we associate with to do a controlled buy.”

Wilson and Hess Arrested on the Following Charges

• distribute marijuana 25-450 grams

• possession of paraphernalia with intent to manufacture/plant/cultivate a controlled substance

• possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant

• no drug stamp for marijuana or controlled substance

• two charges of aggravated endangering a child, reckless situation to child (less than 18)

• possession of marijuana

• use/possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia into the human body

They were arrested and taken to the Greenwood County Jail. Their sons, Ashton, 15, and Holden, 11 were placed in protective custody. Bail was set at $50,000 each.

HomerWilson2.jpg

Homer Wilson, while in Kansas’ Greenwood County jail
Stricken in Jail, Homer Wilson Dies in Hospital

The story, however, gets much worse. On Friday, June 7, according to a press release from Greenwood County Sheriff Heath Samuels, as reported by the Emporia radio station KVOE, “Greenwood County EMS and Eureka Rescue responded to a call that an inmate was experiencing ‘medical issues.’ Prior to EMS’ arrival on scene, deputies began administering CPR before the inmate, identified as Homer M. Wilson Jr. of Eureka, was taken to Greenwood County Hospital by ambulance. The Sheriff’s Office reports Wilson was later pronounced deceased. Due to this being an in-custody death the investigation into the cause will be handled by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).”

Hess tells Freedom Leaf about Wilson, who was 35: “He had mitral valve prolapse (a heart condition), hypertension, bipolar disorder and ADHD, and also some issues with his ear. He was not about to die before we went in. He was on several medications, mostly for blood pressure, and on Lithium.”



Hess, who is 39, suffers from severe depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, ADHD and fibromyalgia. “We were absolutely using (cannabis) medically,” she said.

On Facebook, Hess explained: “On June 7, I was preparing to bond out and was taken to the interview room and informed by the Sheriff and a KBI agent that my husband had a medical emergency, and he didn’t make it. They proceeded to ask me questions about his health and habits, then left me in the interview room for about 30 minutes. Now, I’m separated from my kids and unable to be with them during this difficult time, and facing serious charges all alone. I’d like to know what makes us such a danger to society that my husband deserved to lose his life.”

The cause of Wilson’s death remains unknown. “I was told the report would take about 90 days from time of death,” she says. “I’ll have to request that from district court.”

The Legal Burden Now Falls on Jennifer Hess

Hess’ children were placed with a family by a local nonprofit to whom custodies are outsourced. “St. Francis is a religious organization,” she says. “They handle these kinds of situations, and they’re going to try to reintegrate them back into the home. But I’m looking at them being gone until December, at the soonest, from what I’m told. That’s a lot of time with my kids that I can’t get back. I get to see them once a week, supervised.”

Meanwhile, Hess is undergoing court-ordered treatment for substance-use disorder, which she doesn’t have and for which she has to pay, and is going to court to fight the long list of criminal charges. About the cultivation charge, she relates, “It was because I had a grow tent, which was not fully assembled and had never been used, and I had no intention of using it for that purpose in the state of Kansas. But apparently they thought that was enough to consider it cultivation.”

In Kansas, according to NORML, possession of 25-450 grams of cannabis is a felony that faces penalties of 46-83 months in jail and a maximum fine of $300,000. Cultivation is also a felony, although in Hess’ case no plants were found. Possession of paraphernalia is a misdemeanor. Kansas does not allow residents to use medical-marijuana.



One of the possession counts is for what the police suspect is methamphetamine, a charge Hess strongly denies. “I don’t do meth. I did not have meth. There was both a urine and follicle test of me and a follicle test of my husband, and neither one of them showed positive for meth. Meth is a real problem in this community. You’d think they could concern themselves with people who are actually manufacturing and doing meth.”

Hess can’t afford her own lawyer, so she’s been assigned a court-appointed attorney, Chris Pate. He didn’t return phone or email messages left by Freedom Leaf.

Hess contends that the original search was a violation of thei Fourth Amendment rights. “As far as I’m concerned, they were trespassing. When they shoved their way in, they were breaking and entering.

“I’m the kind of person that wants a simple domestic life,” she maintains. “Then these jackbooted thugs forced their way into my house, kidnapped my children, took my freedom and killed my husband. When it comes to injustice, I’m not one to keep my mouth shut. Ever.”
So the wife or partner could get her children taken away too? Her husband or partner died. It stated child endangerment is why I’m wondering. Kansas is pretty F’d up.
 
This state Senate President may want to learn a lesson from Ohio's Senate President when he also dismissed the electorate's will and they shoved it up his ass and broke it off. Fucking Kansas...Dorothy should have stayed in Oz. LOL

GOP Kansas Senate President Is ‘Open’ To Limited Medical Marijuana For Seriously Ill While Dismissing Public Support For Legalization

The GOP Kansas Senate leader says he’s “open” to medical marijuana—but only in restricted form for seriously ill or terminal patients. And he might want to do a pilot program first before potentially expanding the limited reform.


During an interview with KCUR that aired on Thursday, Senate President Ty Masterson (R) was asked about his willingness to enact cannabis legalization given how recent polling shows overwhelming public support for the policy change.


He first suggested that most Kansans only support medical cannabis for “palliative care,” and claimed that “recreational was not addressed as a majority” in the recent survey. The host pressed him, pointing out that the recent Kansas Speaks fall poll found 67 percent support for taxing and regulating adult-use marijuana.


“If you look at that question, I think most people would answer yes, but they don’t know what they’re actually saying yes to,” Masterson, whose chamber declined to act on a House-passed medical marijuana legalization bill in 2021, argued. He cited concerns with the implementation of adult-use legalization in neighboring Oklahoma.


Listen to Masterson’s comments, around 23:15 into the audio below:

https://tunein.com/topic/?topicid=3...3671&utm_source=geminiEmbedTitle&st=undefined

“I’m actually open to true medical marijuana—or to palliative care,” he added. “I am open to that. I’m not saying no, I’m just saying we don’t have any real studies on dosage and distribution because you don’t know. Where else do you smoke medicine, right? I mean, you don’t.”


“If it truly is—I’m a believer, there is a medical benefit in that plant. I have no problem with that,” he said. “It’s just how it’s been done across the country has not been helpful.”


The Senate president noted that the Federal and State Affairs Committee held several hearings on a medical cannabis reform bill earlier this year, but members ultimately voted to table it.


He said that there’s “probably” a different bill that deals with “dosage and research” that could pass. Or he said he’d “take a pilot program” because “we need to know more.”


After the Senate committee shelved the medical marijuana bill, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) issued a statement urging the public to contact their representatives to demand that they take the legislation back up for action, but that did not happen before the end of the legislative session.


Kelly, who has long championed cannabis reform, said at the time that she was “disappointed that some legislators are saying they don’t want to move forward with legalizing medical marijuana this year—effectively turning their backs on our veterans and those with chronic pain and seizure disorders.”
 
Why hasn't it happened yet? I can answer that...can you say "fucking politicians", children? Yes, you can.

Legalizing medical Marijuana is popular in Kansas, so why hasn’t it happened yet?


Kansas is one of only a few states with no legal medical or recreational marijuana.


Some people are optimistic about a medical cannabis deal this year.


Activists at the Statehouse are renewing a push for state lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana in Kansas. While Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and many state legislators from both parties support the concept, lawmakers have yet to take up the issue this session.


The American Civil Liberties Union held an online day of action for marijuana legalization earlier this month. During the event, activists expressed disappointment that Kansas does not have legal medical marijuana, nearly three years after the state House passed a bill that would have provided for it.


“I’m here in open-mouth amazement that we are still discussing passing a medical marijuana bill,” said Cheryl Kumberg, president of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition. “It just is the same excuses all these years. The same rhetoric from opponents and legislators.”


In 2021, the Kansas House passed a medical marijuana bill with bipartisan support, but it was never taken up by the Senate. That bill would have legalized the prescription of smokeless cannabis products for patients with diseases and disorders including cancer, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.


At the time, some Republicans opposed the bill because they wanted more details on dosage and distribution, or because they didn’t want to conflict with the federal government, which continues to prohibit marijuana possession.


Some House lawmakers have said they’re optimistic for a discussion on medical marijuana in the coming weeks, but they’re hoping the Senate will take the lead.


“I think it does have some traction. I know folks are talking about it,” said Republican Rep. Nick Hoheisel, who voted in favor of the 2021 medical marijuana bill. “Everybody’s becoming more aware of it, and how popular medical marijuana is in Kansas currently and how well it polls.”


Republican Senate President Ty Masterson is one of the key lawmakers who has opposed medical marijuana in past sessions, but he recently said he’s open to a discussion.


“I’m actually open to true medical marijuana or to palliative care,” he told KCUR in December. “I am open to that. I am not saying no. I’m just saying we don’t have any real studies on dosing and distribution.”


It remains to be seen whether the Senate will take up the issue this year. The governor would most likely sign a bill if lawmakers sent one to her desk.


Recent polling by Fort Hays State University indicates about two-thirds of Kansans support legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana.


Some cities, like Lawrence, have effectively legalized possession of marijuana by no longer criminally prosecuting it.


Kelly Rippel, co-founder of Kansans for Hemp and also part of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition, said that de facto legalization is not the preferred approach.


“It leaves inconsistency around enforcement, not only in communities, but also the district attorneys in counties,” Rippel said. “And they may not charge — that’s fine — but we need to have something on the books that actually says, ‘We are not going to criminalize this, especially for personal possession.’”


So far, at least 38 states have legalized medical cannabis in some form or another, along with Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories. Recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states, including the neighboring states of Missouri and Colorado.


Kansas has legalized CBD, but cannabis products containing high amounts of THC – the psychoactive compound in marijuana – remain illegal.


Many Democratic-controlled states have legalized medical or recreational marijuana through the typical legislative process. But in Washington, D.C., and 13 states, including neighboring Missouri, voters legalized it through ballot initiatives. Those are direct questions to voters prompted by a citizen-led petition.


In Kansas, there is no legal framework for ballot initiatives.
 
:shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead:


Kansas Senators Kill Bill To Create Medical Marijuana Pilot Program



Kansas lawmakers have voted to table a bill to create a medical marijuana pilot program in the state that has drawn early criticism from advocates who view it as excessively restrictive.


The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee took testimony on the legislation in a hearing on Thursday, a little over a week after it was first introduced. But after members heard from supporters, opponents and neutral parties, they accepted a motion to table it until January 13, 2025 in a voice vote—effectively killing the measure for the current session.


After several unsuccessful attempts to legalize medical cannabis in a more conventional manner in recent sessions, lawmakers were exploring whether there would be enough support to enact the more limited reform through a pilot program that would have launched later this year. The committee put an abrupt halt to that conversation.

Cannabis sales hit record high in Michigan

“Our goal is to provide relief for patients, while also balancing the concerns of legislators and conservative Kansans,” Sam Jones, COO of Kansas Natural Remedies, which helped draft the legislation, said during the hearing.


“By being one of the last states to implement this, I think we’ve learned from other states,” he said. “We’ve tailored this bill to address the things that other states have gotten wrong and to address the things that they may have gotten right. This is a limited bill. This is supposed to be a pilot program. This is a proof of concept for medical cannabis to give proof that medical cannabis isn’t going to cause the end of society.”



Under the measure, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be responsible for overseeing the program, and regulators could only approve licenses for four vertically integrated cannabis operators across the state. Pharmacies could also be permitted to sell medical marijuana.


To participate in the program, patients with one of 16 qualifying conditions—including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain—would need to obtain a certification from a physicians.


There are a number of restrictions built into the legislation, including a ban on smoking marijuana products. While the bill also says that vaporizing cannabis would be prohibited, there’s separate language stating that flower could be inhaled through non-combustable vaporization.







Cannabis pills, tinctures, patches and ointments would also be permitted. Patients could not buy more than 200 grams of cannabis for a 30-day supply.


There would be a 35 percent THC cap on cannabis products, which would be taxed at eight percent. The bill calls for 20 percent of tax revenue to go toward a “medical cannabis research and education fund,” and the remaining dollars would be deposited into the state general fund.


Patients would need to be 21 or older to access medical cannabis. Most state medical marijuana laws set the minimum age at 18, with certain exceptions for minors with serious medical conditions.



There would not be a home grow option for patients. And the legislation
1711647216015.png
also appears to lack any equity provisions such as expungements for prior cannabis convictions or licensing prioritization for people most impacted under prohibition.


Jones, whose group drafted the legislation, was asked about the equity issue and recognized that such policies were not included because “our intent with this bill is to provide proof of concept for medical cannabis.”


“If this goes well, then we can implement a restrictive but more comprehensive medical cannabis bill. And at that time, I think social equity provision be appropriate,” he said.


There would be a requirement that a director, manager or officer of a medical cannabis company have held a hemp producer license for the two years prior to entering the marijuana industry.



Kelsey Olson, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, told the committee that that specific provision is “problematic,” pointing out that it’s in “direct conflict” with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy that prohibits licensed hemp farmers from also growing marijuana, regardless of the state’s law.


“Once the hemp licensee begins producing medical cannabis, they could no longer grow industrial hemp without having violated the USDA final rule,” she said. “We could easily be neutral if the connections with hemp were removed.”



Medical cannabis operators that the department licenses would be able to launch beginning on July 1 of this year. The pilot program would sunset on July 1, 2029.


Michael Snyder, a military veteran, testified at Thursday’s hearing about the need to provide the veteran population with an alternative to opioids.


“Why are we so concerned about medical cannabis when Kansans are dying every day from overdosing on a prescribed narcotic that turns patients into addicts?” he said. “This is the real issue. A vote against medical cannabis is a vote for continued opioid prescription addiction, overdose and needless suffering.”


Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) Director Tony Mattivi, meanwhile, said his agency is “strongly opposed” to the proposal.



“I’m very concerned by some of the trends and the data that we’ve seen as we look around the country at other states that have legalized,” he said, arguing that state-level reform is associated with increased rates of opioid overdoses.


He claimed legalization would open the door to organized crime that the agency doesn’t have the resources to manage.


After the bill’s introduction, the Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce (KCCC) was quick to criticize the legislation, which was previewed last month by Senate President Ty Masterson (R).


KCCC President Erren Wright said that the “extreme limitations on medical cannabis in this bill are going to hurt more people than they help.”


This medical cannabis pilot program measure was filed about a month after the Kansas House of Representatives rejected a Democratic lawmaker’s amendment to a broader drug scheduling bill that would have removed marijuana entirely from the state’s controlled substances law, effectively legalizing it.


Meanwhile, a separate bill to create a limited medical cannabis program has also faced resistance from some legislative leaders. House lawmakers previously passed a medical cannabis bill in 2021, but it failed to get traction in the Senate.


Masterson, the Senate president, said late last year he was open to a discussion about a limited medical marijuana program. But in January, he appeared less open to the idea, calling medical legalization a “nonstarter” and suggesting the policy change could lead to a surge in “gang activity” and put kids at risk.
 

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