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As a Kansas special committee works to prepare a medical marijuana legalization bill for the 2023 session with another meeting coming up this week, a spokesperson for the top GOP senator said the issue is \u201cnot a priority\u201d\u2014prompting pushback from House Democratic leadership.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson told the Wichita Eagle that Senate President Ty Masterson (R) recognizes that the reform issue is \u201cmaturing,\u201d adding that any federal action \u201cwould be more evidence of that.\u201d However, \u201cit is not a priority\u201d for the senator, who wields significant influence over what legislation advances.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, Senator Masterson believes any legislation the Senate would consider must have safeguards to ensure it is truly treated as medicine and not as a vehicle for recreational use,\u201d the staffer told<\/a> The Kansas City Star.<\/p>\n That prompted House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer (D) to issue a statement criticizing the Senate president on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be clear: Legalizing medical marijuana is a priority for countless Kansans, including myself, and Senate President Masterson is wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is ignoring widespread, bipartisan cooperation in the House; repeated calls for movement from industries across the state, and public energy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be clear: Legalizing medical marijuana is a priority for countless Kansans, including myself, and Senate President Ty Masterson is wrong.\u201d #ksleg<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/w6RIzIDzYX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kansas House Democrats (@KSHouseDems) October 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The House approved a medical cannabis legalization bill last year, but the momentum hasn\u2019t been confined to the chamber. In fact, a special committee comprised of House and Senate members\u2014appointed by legislative leaders\u2014held the first of three scheduled meetings<\/a> last week to hear from state agencies as they work to craft reform legislation for next year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n The Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, which\u00a0a bicameral legislative panel formed in June<\/a>, will meet again on Wednesday to take comments<\/a> on the \u201cpublic policy implications\u201d of medical marijuana legalization from supporters, opponents and neutral parties.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully the work of this committee will help us to quickly move a bill through both chambers next year, and get I signed by the governor,\u201d Sawyer said. \u201cKansans in pain should not have to wait any longer for relief they need. Kansas House Democrats are ready and willing and anxious to work with Republicans to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n The third and final meeting of the committee is set for November 16, when members will discuss and finalize the committee\u2019s proposal for the full legislature for the 2023 session.<\/p>\n While advocates were disappointed that lawmakers were unable to pass a medical cannabis bill by the end of the 2022 session in May\u2014despite considerable momentum and the support of Gov. Laura Kelly (D)\u2014the hope is that the committee\u2019s work will lay the groundwork for meaningful action when the legislature convenes again.<\/p>\n Sawyer said in June that he\u2019s \u201cbeen pretty frustrated that we have yet to get a bill passed,\u201d while acknowledging that the House voted to legalize medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0last year only to see a relative lack of action in the Senate.<\/p>\n The Senate did hold several hearings on cannabis reform earlier 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<\/a>\u00a0that could pass both chambers, although that didn\u2019t pan out by the time lawmakers adjourned.<\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers made a final push to\u00a0enact medical cannabis legalization before the legislative deadline<\/a>, but Senate Federal and State Affairs Chairman Robert Olson (R) said in May that the \u201cheavy load\u201d his committee had to carry on other issues meant that lawmakers would not be \u201cgetting this measure across the finish line this session.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u00a0separate one that Senate lawmakers began considering<\/a>\u00a0this 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\u2019s bill, as well as provisions they wanted to keep from their own measure.<\/p>\n In general, the two chambers\u2019 proposals were already fairly similar, sharing numerous key provisions.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an overview of the key provisions where\u00a0the<\/a>\u00a0bills<\/a>\u00a0from the House and Senate already overlapped:<\/strong><\/p>\n Patients with any of more than 20 qualifying conditions\u2014including cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson\u2019s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autoimmune disorders\u2014would be eligible for medical cannabis.<\/p>\n Patients would be entitled to obtain a 30-day supply of medical cannabis products at a time.<\/p>\n Possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana by a person who isn\u2019t registered as a patient would be decriminalized, punishable by a maximum fine of $400.<\/p>\n Patients\u2019 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.<\/p>\n Medical cannabis sales would be subject to the state sales tax of 5.75 percent, with the option of adding a local tax.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The legislation would also establish a medical marijuana advisory committee to help oversee the program and issue recommendations.<\/p>\n 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\u2019ve been convicted of a felony, unless that conviction was expunged at least 10 years before the application is submitted.<\/p>\n There would also be a 35 percent THC cap on marijuana plant material.<\/p>\n Counties would be able to enact local bans on permitting marijuana retailers from operating within their jurisdictions through the adopt of a resolution.<\/p>\n With respect to equity provisions, there does not appear to be an explicit pathway for expungements.<\/p>\n \u2014 Here are some of the changes that the House said it was willing to accept from the Senate bill:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Pushing back the effective date of the law and deadlines for its implementation.<\/p>\n Removing a 70 percent THC cap on cannabis concentrates.<\/p>\n Out-of-state patients would have reciprocity to both possess and purchase marijuana if they\u2019re registered with their state.<\/p>\n Preventing discrimination in real estate transactions to lease or sell property to registered medical marijuana patients.<\/p>\n Keep the Senate\u2019s licensing application requirements, terms of licensing and rules on where cannabis businesses can operate.<\/p>\n Requiring certain security measures at medical marijuana businesses.<\/p>\n Requiring the state to enter into agreements with tribal governments in order to exchange cannabis.<\/p>\n Doctors wouldn\u2019t have to start \u201cprescribing,\u201d rather than recommending, medical marijuana if the federal government reclassifies cannabis.<\/p>\n Here are some areas where the House insisted on its version, or offered a compromise:<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Allowing regulators to create a unique payment process system for cannabis sales in coordination with the state treasurer.<\/p>\n Keeping a $500 license fee for associated employees of medical marijuana businesses, but lowering fees for other employee types.<\/p>\n Keeping state and local licensing eligibility requirements as stated in the House bill.<\/p>\n There were some additional outstanding items that members hadn\u2019t quite decided on as of April\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n After his House counterpart went through the list of provisions and proposals at the April hearing, Olson signaled that members would be going back to leadership to see where the chambers can come to an agreement and then \u201cdiscuss this at a later date\u201d in conference. That never came to fruition, however, and so that\u2019s why lawmakers are now taking steps to set up action for next year.<\/p>\n Sawyer and Assistant Minority Leader Jason Probst (D) said in January that they wanted to\u00a0let voters decide on legalizing medical and adult-use marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n The governor, for her part, wants to see medical cannabis legalization enacted, and she said earlier this year that she \u201cabsolutely\u201d thinks the bill could pass if \u201ceverything else doesn\u2019t take up all the oxygen.\u201d<\/p>\n She previously pushed a separate proposal that would\u00a0legalize medical cannabis and use the resulting revenue<\/a>\u00a0to support Medicaid expansion, with Rep. Brandon Woodard (D)\u00a0filing the measure on the governor\u2019s behalf<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kelly has she said she wants voters to put\u00a0pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Following President Joe Biden\u2019s announcement on pardoning people who\u2019ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses and imploring governors to follow suit, Kelly said that her administration is \u201cfocused on legalizing medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0so that Kansans with severe illnesses no longer have to suffer.<\/p>\n She added that they will \u201ccontinue to consider all clemency and pardon requests based on a complete and thorough review of the individual cases.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor also said in 2020 that while she wouldn\u2019t personally advocate for adult-use legalization, she\u00a0wouldn\u2019t rule out signing the reform<\/a>\u00a0into law if a reform bill arrived on her desk.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R), who is running to unseat Kelly in the governor\u2019s office, has previously expressed opposition to marijuana reform but more recently has acknowledged growing public support.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately public opinion decides these issues and I think it\u2019s clear to anybody watching that public opinion in this country is moving generally in the direction of more permissiveness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A campaign spokesperson told the Kansas City Star that he is now open to limited reforms covering \u201cnarrow circumstances like late stage cancer patients and veterans with PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n DEA Proposes Dramatic Increases In Marijuana And Psychedelics Production In 2023 For Research<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top GOP Kansas Senator Says Medical Marijuana Is \u2018Not A Priority\u2019 As Committee Crafts Bill, Prompting Democratic Pushback<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As a Kansas special committee works to prepare a medical marijuana legalization bill for the 2023 session with another meeting coming up this week, a spokesperson for the top GOP senator said the issue is \u201cnot a priority\u201d\u2014prompting pushback from House Democratic leadership. The spokesperson told the Wichita Eagle thatContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":57554,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57555,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57553\/revisions\/57555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top GOP Kansas Senator Says Medical Marijuana Is \u2018Not A Priority\u2019 As Committee Crafts Bill, Prompting Democratic Pushback<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"