Attempts to legalize marijuana in Kansas might face challenges in 2024. Advocates are making a renewed effort to pass legislation in the statehouse, but prominent Republican leaders indicate that the existing proposal is unlikely to gain support.
“It’s our representatives’ jobs to represent us… and we have overwhelmingly told them… we support this,”marijuana advocate Delaney Jones stated on Tuesday at the ACLU’s annual gathering.  “Now, it is your job to make that happen for us.”
Yet, their request might not make much progress this year. In a pre-session discussion with Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover, he indicated that the existing legislation is unlikely to gain traction.
“I can tell you the bill that’s in our committees right now is a non-starter,” Masterson stated. “Part of that is you’ve seen the disaster in Oklahoma… with cash transactions for land… you’re seeing a lot of gang activity…”
The medical marijuana bill from the previous year faced a delay following opposition testimony in the Senate Federal and State Affairs committee. Law enforcement officials in Kansas expressed their disapproval of the bill. Masterson also pointed out how law enforcement is handling legalization in other states, such as Oklahoma.
“One of their drug enforcement people down there in their agency… he said 98% overgrown… he said 1.8% of their grow can fill every medical card… it’s not being sold as medicine… so, I think that harms the conversation, if you’re having a legitimate conversation,” Masterson stated. “If you’re really talking about legitimate medicine… delivering somebody a treatment for something that’s a legitimate illness… that’s a different conversation than what we’ve had… I think what people see when they think of medical… they think of palliative care. I think there are a majority of people in favor of that.”
“It”s down to protecting our population…,” he further added.
Masterson also highlighted instances in Wichita where edibles were used by middle school pupils, leading to their “getting sick.”
Masterson stated that while he’s “open to conversations,” the legislation must “protect our children.”
“Basically, some type of pilot program or something that’s controlled to the point that you can test it… but, the horse isn’t out of the barn and you can’t ever put it back in,” he stated.
Kansas remains one of the few states where marijuana is completely illegal this year. In contrast, neighboring states such as Missouri have generated millions of dollars in tax revenue from the sale of cannabis.
“Missouri has made over 1.3… I think 1.5 billion dollars in 2023,” co-founder of Kansans for Hemp Kelly Rippel stated at the ACLU event on Tuesday. “We know that Kansas has to be a part of that… knowing that Johnson County and Wyandotte are bordering… and that’s where one of the largest populations of our state is.”
