Legislature fails to act — again — on cannabis policy reform

Kansas is one of only 12 states that lacks a comprehensive medical cannabis law and one of only 19 states that still punishes simple possession of cannabis with jail time. Its 2024 legislative session has ended, so 2025 is the soonest that cannabis policies can be improved in the Sunflower State.

The Kansas House of Representatives passed medical cannabis legislation in 2022 and 2023, but the state Senate has failed to advance bills out of committee. After hearings in 2022, SB 135 was introduced as a conservative, yet workable, compromise to bring a regulated medical cannabis program to Kansas. In both 2023 and 2024, the legislation died in committee. SB 555 was then proposed as a compromise pilot program. It also died in a Senate committee.

Until the legislature enacts medical cannabis legislation, Kansas patients will continue to have to turn to the illicit market and risk the associated dangers, from both law enforcement and unregulated products. Let your senator and state rep know that you support a compassionate medical cannabis program for Kansans!

Gov. Kelly signs affirmative defense bill for low-THC CBD oils

During Kansas’ 2019 legislative session, the state took a small step forward to provide some very limited protections for certain types of low-THC medical cannabis.

The legislature passed and Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed SB 28, “Claire and Lola’s Law,” into law. The law provides an affirmative defense for possession of CBD-rich oils with up to 5% THC. Affirmative defenses prevent convictions, but they don’t necessarily prevent a person from being arrested and hauled into court. SB 28 also bars the state Department of Children and Families from removing a child over CBD oil use. However, SB 28 does not allow for the legal sale or production of cannabis oils.

ACLU study shows racially disparate enforcement

An ACLU report found that in 2018 Black individuals were 4.8 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white people in Kansas, despite the fact that both races consume cannabis at about the same rate. In fact, Kansas ranks 12th in the nation for the largest racial disparities in cannabis possession arrests.

You can let your legislators know you support decriminalization or ending prohibition completely.

While legalization does not eliminate disparities, it dramatically reduces the total number of cannabis arrests — and thus the damage done by unequal enforcement. Decriminalization is a more modest step, typically involving a civil fine instead of possible jail time. It stops incarcerating and arresting individuals for simple possession, but does not eliminate penalties or police interactions. Encouragingly, five of the seven states with the lowest disparities had previously enacted legalization laws.

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