Legislators say they favor legal medical marijuana, if done right

Legislators in the region, who attended a legislative update at the Great Bend Events Center last Thursday, were asked to speak on legalizing medical marijuana.

An audience thanked Rep. Troy Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill) for saying “yes” to a bill passed between 79 and 42 and asked Rep. Tory Marie Arnberger (R-Great Bend) to say “no” to explain. and asked Senator Alicia Straub (R-Ellinwood), “Could you reply to my email, please?” Rep. Brett Fairchild (R-St. John) also attended and spoke.

After the Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill to establish a medical marijuana program in the state, the bill went to the Senate, but the issue did not get off the committee. Republican leaders have signaled that the Senate will not consider the bill in the final days of the legislature, the Associated Press said.

“I voted against medical marijuana just because I saw a lot of loopholes in the bill,” said Arnberger. “You could smoke it because you could go to a pharmacy and buy buds and you could go home and smoke it.” Recreational drug users could buy a pharmacy bag on the black market and if a green substance was found in their vehicle they could claim it was legal, she said.

“It was just very difficult for me. At the same time, you could go home and make your own groceries, which I don’t think is right. “

Arnberger said she’s struggling with the bill because she knows medical marijuana can be beneficial. The committee heard from an Odin mother, Kiley Klug, whose 13-year-old son Owen has a rare form of epilepsy and has up to 100 seizures a day. Kiley and her husband Gavin Klug have been appealing to lawmakers for years to reform hemp and marijuana laws to allow disease treatment.

The Claire and Lola law, which went into effect in 2019, allowed Owen to use CBD oil containing up to 5 percent THC, which has helped his seizures.

“We all know Kiley Klug and we all know Owen Klug,” said Arnberger. “However, I found it very difficult to vote against law enforcement and find these loopholes.

“One thing I liked about the bill was that it was just as conservative or more conservative than any other state. I don’t want us to be like Oklahoma with medical marijuana because they’re a joke down there. “

Arnberger said she was a member of the committee that worked on the bill and that she had voted to leave the committee so the House could vote on the issue. “I felt everyone should have the right to vote on it.”

She said she also worked with a group of conservative lawmakers who voted against the bill but were interested in working out a better law, similar to Claire and Lola’s law, on legal medical marijuana.

“The train is coming; We know it’s coming. How do we take this plan and maybe optimize it a little better? “Said Arnberger. “We know the Senate wants to take it up. The Senate wants to include medical marijuana. “

Straub said medical marijuana was never brought down in the Senate, and she did not serve on any of the committees where it may have been heard. Regarding emails, Straub informed the audience that their “dot-gov” email address Alicia.Straub@senate.ks.gov, “Is something like a black hole. Most of the emails we receive are form letters, and we just get inundated with emails – everything. So if it didn’t get a vote and we didn’t work on it in the Senate, I’m sorry if I didn’t respond to your email. “

She said to use the email address straubforkansas@gmail.com. “If you send it to this email address, I’ll get it. In fact, it will be right here on my phone. But I didn’t attach my dot-gov email address to my phone because I don’t trust the government – and I’m part of it! “

Straub said she voted for Claire and Lola’s law, adding, “I support medical marijuana when it’s done right. But we still have a lot to do to make sure it is done right. “In other states, medical marijuana has led to recreational marijuana, she said, adding,” I don’t want to see that in Kansas. “

Straub concluded: “I am not against it. I just think it’s something that we really need in order to get our research done and done right. Thank you for your contribution. And please email me. “

Fairchild said he voted for the medical marijuana bill in house and turned it over to the Senate after it was passed.

“You probably won’t be working on it until next year,” he said. “But if you look at what we’ve done in the legislature over the past year, we’ve probably passed five to ten bills to increase alcohol sales here in Kansas. Of course, alcohol has no medical benefit, it is purely recreational. “It does not seem logical to him that the legislature cannot pass a law on medical marijuana. “Alcohol has no medical benefit. Marijuana has hundreds of medicinal benefits. It is a plant that God created as part of His creation. You know, it has various medicinal benefits for people and is nowhere near as harmful as alcohol. And so I hope we can do it next year. “