Kansas cannabis pilot program tabled until 2025

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas lawmakers have tabled a medical cannabis pilot program bill, until January 13, 2025. The likelihood of lawmakers taking the issue back up seems slim, as Republicans are hesitant to take steps toward reform.

Nexstar's Kansas Capitol Bureau was the only television outlet present, as lawmakers heard testimony on Senate Bill 555 on Thursday, during a Senate Fed and State hearing. After the meeting, Senator Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, who chairs the committee, responded to whether the bill is likely to be taken up again next year.

"I'm sure this is going to be something that's going to be attempted every session from here on out... and we just have to remain vigilant and say... wait a minute... let's look at the facts," Sen. Thompson said. "It will increase the amount of violence and drug cartels... also the social impacts with higher THC content... anything over 10% has shown to increase psychosis... the threat of schizophrenia... violent activity..."

"I think with regard to any kind of a compromise... the compromise would be what is safe... and effective for people's health," he said.

The proposal would have established a medical cannabis pilot program, which would not include dispensaries or edibles. Supporters have touted the bill as conservative, as they attempt to take concerns from Republican Leadership into account.

However, Senate Assistant Majority Leader, Renee Erickson, R-Wichita, motioned to table the bill on Thursday, shortly after hearing testimony from opponents.

"Through this, it has become abundantly clear to me that this not the conservative, restrictive pilot program that it has been characterized as," Sen. Erickson said.

Opponents raised concerns for law enforcement and questioned the medical uses of cannabis.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director, Tony Mattivi, spoke on behalf of several law enforcement organizations opposing the bill. Mattivi said one of his greatest concerns is with organized crime, stemming from legalization.

He cited a letter written by members of Congress to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last month.

"We are deeply concerned with reports from across the country regarding Chinese nationals and
organized crime cultivating marijuana on United States farmland. In some cases, the grow
operators were also engaged in human trafficking, forced labor, drug trafficking, and violent
crime. These farms are most commonly in states with legal marijuana programs where illicit
growers try to disguise their operations in communities where law-abiding Americans live and
work," Mattivi said, while reading the letter to the committee Thursday. "According to the Director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN), 'national and transnational criminals … [are] moving this product on the black market and laundering money – millions and millions of dollars – back to [China and other countries of concern], which is funding these terrorist and communist states.”

The letter asked Garland several questions as well, including whether the DOJ has dedicated resources to investigating the Chinese Communist Party's involvement in illicit marijuana farms. However, Mattivi said that, as of Wednesday, he was told that there was no response.

"We do not have the resources to take on organized criminal activity of this nature," Mattivi said.

This is the second year in a row that a medical marijuana proposal has been tabled at the statehouse, despite some polls showing that the majority of Kansans are in favor of medical marijuana legalization.

This year's proposal was crafted by Kansas Natural Remedies (KNR), a hemp producer in Wichita. KNR's Chief Operating Officer Sam Jones spoke with Kansas Capitol Bureau following the decision to table the bill.

"I'm angry... there were opponents up there saying that this bill would allow the creation of MDMA and psychedelics... there were police officers up there saying that this was going to cause Chinese cartels to come in and take over the state... that's not true... none of these things are true," Jones said. "The argument against medical cannabis is one of fear and ignorance. This bill was crafted to be as restrictive as possible, but that still wasn't enough to get it over the line for some of the people buying into the fear."

The bill includes a five-year sunset. During that period, annual reports would be submitted to the state health secretary, who would then submit reports to the Legislature and Governor to adjust the program or make improvements. Ads wouldn't have been allowed under the plan. It also doesn't include edibles or dispensaries.

People seeking medical cannabis would have to receive permission from a physician, after being cleared for any of the 16 medical conditions listed in the bill, which include conditions, like cancer, PTSD, and multiple sclerosis. The full list is included on page 3 of the bill.

Jones said one of the key parts to help with patient access, would have been the delivery system that would have allowed patients in western parts of the state to seek care.

However, there has been pushback on certain parts of the plan that would restrict the state health secretary from contracting with more than four medical cannabis operators "at any one time."

While some medical marijuana advocates testified in favor of the bill on Thursday, other advocates joined together to decry parts of the legislation that, they claim, would create a "monopoly."

“The extreme limitations on medical cannabis in this proposed pilot program are going to hurt more people than they help," said Erren Wright, President of the Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, in a press release. "Licensing only four people in the state to participate in growing, processing and dispensing medical cannabis is a disservice to the thousands of small business owners and advocates who have fought for medical cannabis. Most importantly, it is a disservice to the Kansas patients who have waited longer than everyone else in the country to legally access this life saving medicine."

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