Under Senate Bill 9, doctors would be authorized to write prescriptions for cannabis, to their clients who have qualifying medical conditions. Such proposed legislation is supported by 70 percent of the people in Kansas. The proposed legislation also seeks to authorize the Kansas Department of Public Health to license and regulate a limited number of medical marijuana distribution centers to provide patients with safe access. Additionally, the proposed legislation allows authorized individuals to cultivate a small personal use amount of marijuana.
Despite the people of Kansas wanting this, "Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook, won't even let the proposed legislation have a hearing during the current legislative session. You can visit her and write her a message about your stance on the issue, whether you are for it or against it. Her site is www.imwithmary.com
As a Kansas criminal defense lawyer, I have defended hundreds of people for many different crimes. As an Johnson County, KS attorney, I see much energy in the court system on these small time consuming cases. Regardless of your personal stance on marijuana use, it seems that law enforcement could use their time much more wisely than busting people for possessing small personal amounts of marijuana.
When our legislature decides on what to do about this issues, as well as even recreational marijuana, the question should NOT be whether each legislator personally believes a person should or should not smoke marijuana. Rather, the issues should be, whether an individual should have the right to choose that, in the land of the free, weighed against the impact on society.
Additionally, they should consider the costs associated with the continual criminalization of marijuana. Additionally, they could raise a lot of money through taxing it. It should be noted that the proposed legislation doesn't even allow recreational use, and is limited to medical use. Therefore, the people who would benefit medically from this should be considered for this specific proposed legislation. Medicinal Marijuana does have benefits for hurting people.