The Kansas House passed a medical cannabis bill. Senate Leadership, including Sen. President Ty Masterson, refused to allow the bill to come to the floor of the Senate largely because of opposition by law enforcement.
The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee held a hearing on H Sub for SB 158 early in the session; however, Senate leadership, including President Ty Masterson, continued to refuse to allow the bill to be heard on the floor of the Senate.
A Special Committee on Medical Marijuana met over the interim to hear testimony from stakeholders and develop a bill for the 2023 legislative session.
Sen. Rob Olson, Chair of Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, introduced a medical cannabis bill, SB 135 and held 2 days of hearings. The bill was again thwarted by Senate leadership, including Sen. President Ty Masterson.
Leading into the 2023 legislative session Sen. Olson was stripped of his chair position on the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee.
In a desperate move, Sen. Olson motioned to pull the bill out of committee and be heard on the floor of the Senate, but the motion failed 12 – 25, with most Republican Senators following leadership and opposing the motion.
Following the 2024 legislative session Sen. Olsen was removed from his Chair position on the Senate Utilities Committee.
Late in the 2024 session a medical cannabis bill, SB 555, was introduced. The bill was deemed to benefit a single processor within the state and the Kansas Cannabis Coalition testified against it. The bill died in committee.
During the interim a Special Committee on Medical Cannabis met for 2 days to hear from stakeholders. Interim committees are tasked with making recommendations to the appropriate committees for the following legislative session. Sen. Holscher sat on the committee and made the motion to recommend that the 2025 legislature pass medical cannabis legislation. The motion failed in committee.
Several advocacy groups introduce legislation, including SB 292, a medical cannabis bill, by the Kansas Cannabis Coalition and SB 295, a decriminalization bill for minor possession, by the Cannabis Justice Coalition. Leadership in the Senate did not allow any of the bills to be heard in committee and at the end of the legislative session Sen. Cindy Holscher presented the motion to pull the bill out of committee so it could have floor discussion. The motion failed along party lines, with Republicans voting against it.
During the 2025 legislative session the legislature did pass SB 250, which allows qualified patients the right to purchase drugs, biological products, or devices that are unique to and produced exclusively for use on an individual patient. Sen. Holscher offered an amendment to include medical cannabis in the bill but the motion failed. Governor Kelly did not sign or veto the bill, but instead wrote an opinion stating that “it is time to legalize medical marijuana and offer Kansans suffering from chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or epilepsy as a treatment choice.
https://www.kanfocus.com/Amendments/119_250_a.pdf
The Kansas Cannabis Coalition continued to champion their bill, SB 292, but to no avail. Leadership in the KS Senate refused to allow a cannabis bill any action, and leadership in the KS House refused to take action knowing that the Senate would not take up any cannabis bills.
Other bills were introduced, including HB 2678 proposed a Kansas Medical Cannabis Act, and SB 295, a bill that would decriminalize minor possession of cannabis. Sen. Holscher introduced SB 485, which would have moved cannabis from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 drug, in alignment with talks at the federal level.
Cannabis legalization in Kansas has never been closer than this November 3!
For the past decade the Kansas Cannabis Coalition has been fighting for cannabis regulation in Kansas. This year voters will decide between candidates that will move Kansas forward, or keep us in the dark. We have a plan to educate voters about the history and benefits of cannabis regulation, but we need your help.
We need funding to reach voters in time for the elections. Our monthly fundraising goal is $25,000, and time is running out. Please donate to our campaign, or mail a check to PO Box 114, Sawyer, KS 67134.
We CAN put people in office who will support legalization if we do the work.
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