MARIJUANA BILL REACHES HOUSE

While state legislators were working this month to outlaw synthetic
forms of marijuana such as K2, a new House bill sprouted that
proposes the real thing be made available in Kansas.

Gail Finney, a Wichita House Democrat who serves on the House Health
and Human Services Committee, introduced bill 2610 this month. It
calls for the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes.

While the bill closely resembles those of the 14 states that already
allow the use of cannabis for medical reasons, Kansas likely has a
long way to go before actually passing the bill.

"This is definitely a marathon not a sprint," Finney said.

Finney's bill makes Kansas one of the 13 states that now have pending
legislation to legalize medical marijuana.

"I at least want to open up the door for discussion," she said.

Part of Finney's reason for writing the bill comes from her empathy
with the chronically ill, she said. Finney suffers from Lupus and
said she has experienced unwanted side effects from medications. She
decided to take action after receiving numerous positive testimonies
from people who have used cannabis as an alternative.

According to Pain Management of America's website, doctors typically
prescribe marijuana to treat chronic pain, nausea, glaucoma, seizure
disorders, cancer, diabetes, muscle spasms and other ailments.

"There are so many people that are suffering with chronic illnesses,
and I just don't believe they should be criminalized for trying to
make themselves feel better," Finney said.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director for the National Organization
for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws, said this type of legislation
typically becomes less controversial after the facts have been debated openly.

"This is the first one out, which means it's probably not going to go
too far," he said. "The second time out it probably should pass but
won't because the body politic will really dig their heels in and
commit a lot of time and energy to oppose the truth. And by the third
time it comes out the opponents really don't have much of an argument anymore."

He said although Kansas was historically a very socially conservative
and anti-drug state, college towns such as Lawrence have always been
breeding grounds for social change.

"Lawrence is by far the hotbed of progressivity, and from my point of
view, real rational thought, but it has to run up against the rest of
the state," St. Pierre said.

Gina Burrows, president of the Young Democrats of KU, said she has
been to meetings with the Kansas Progressive Caucus and found wide
hesitance among the group to support such an initiative.

"We were definitely having a problem getting any members of the
legislature to introduce their support for such a bill, which
unfortunately I think has more to do with their re-election chances
than necessarily how they always feel," she said.

Burrows said that often the problem was not having a unified citizen
voice to encourage legislators to support controversial initiatives.

"Most of the progressive community in Kansas feels like such a
minority that they don't tend to be vocal," she said. "I really think
they'd find that they are less of a minority if willing to ban
together and assert to their legislators that there is a larger than
expected population that would be on board."

If the bill were to pass, it would allow "compassion centers" to
dispense Kansas-grown cannabis to qualifying patients.

Finney said there was an opportunity for state revenue from the
centers' licensing and fees and the possibility of taxing the product.

"It could create jobs, it could create business, it could create an
industry for Kansas," she said.

While support among the legislatures for the bill is low, Finney said
"quite a few" members have told her they support the initiative, but
aren't able to publicly endorse it for various reasons.

[sidebars]

PENDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATES

1. Alabama

2. Delaware

3. Illinois

4. Iowa

5. Kansas

6. Maryland

7. Massachusetts

8. Missouri

9. New York

10. North Carolina

11. Pennsylvania

12. Tennessee

13. Wisconsin

MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATES

1. Alaska

2. California

3. Colorado

4. Hawaii

5. Maine

6. Michigan

7. Montana

8. Nevada

9. New Jersey

10. New Mexico

11. Oregon

12. Rhode Island

13. Vermont

14. Washington