KELLEY: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL 'PROBABLY GOING NOWHERE'

A medical marijuana bill introduced recently in the state Legislature
is unlikely to be seriously considered - much less adopted, a Cowley
County state representative said.

"I would say that bill probably is not going anywhere, especially
after what happened with K2," said Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, late
last week.

She referred to the Legislature's endorsement earlier last week of
criminalizing K2, a synthetic form of marijuana.

Kelley said she could not support a medical marijuana
bill.

"There are so many other remedies out there," she said.

The K2 bill was being looked at by the Senate, Kelley said, and could
end up in conference committee, a further step toward getting the bill
passed. Kansas would be the first state to outlaw K2 if the bill ends
up being signed into law.

The same week legislators acted on the K2 bill, State Rep. Gail
Finney, D-Wichita, introduced a bill that would set up
state-registered centers where people with prescriptions could buy
marijuana.

Supporters said the medical marijuana helps ease pain from chronic
diseases, according to the Associated Press.

But Kelley said legalizing pot for medical purposes isn't right for
America.

"My personal opinion is America isn't there," she said. "We're an
abusing, addictive nation."

She added that she is opposed to use of marijuana as a recreational
drug.

But Finney said in the AP story that her lupus makes her sympathetic
toward those with diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer and HIV.
Adopting a medical marijuana law would be "the right thing to do," she
was quoted as saying.

She said several lawmakers have told her they support legalizing
medical marijuana. "Everybody said, 'Oh, it's a good idea, but I don't
want to touch it,'" she said.

But other legislators oppose it. Rep. Scott Schwab, R-Olathe, is one
of them.

"Let's be honest. This would be an attempt to legalize marijuana,"
Schwab said Wednesday. "It has no benefit for pain management. All it
does is make you crave another bag of chips."

Cowley County's other state representative, Ed Trimmer, D-Winfield,
could not be reached for comment.