MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL NOW IN KANSAS HOUSE

After all, Kansas was the first to embrace Prohibition, and one of the
last to end it. Even today, you can't find full-strength beer on a grocery
store shelf.

Yet in the same week that state lawmakers voted to make Kansas the first
state to outlaw a synthetic form of pot, a Wichita legislator introduced a
bill to legalize marijuana with a doctor's prescription.

"I just think it's the right thing to do," said Rep. Gail Finney, a
Wichita Democrat.

Finney has lupus, which she said makes her sympathetic to those with
chronic diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer and HIV.

Finney's bill would set up state-registered "compassionate care centers,"
where those with prescriptions could buy marijuana for the treatment of
pain or debilitating illnesses. Finney's bill also would require the
marijuana be grown in the Sunflower State.

Fourteen states already legalize medical marijuana in some fashion,
including Kansas' neighbor Colorado. Medical marijuana bills have been
introduced in several other states, including Missouri.

But Kansas? The state that made Carrie Nation and her hatchet famous?

Indeed, many lawmakers said they're not convinced there's a need.

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

Kansas lawmakers are more apt to outlaw a drug than legalize it. In the
past five years, lawmakers voted to criminalize salvia divinorum and
jimson weed. This year they're targeting synthetic cannibinoids,
lab-produced chemicals that mimic the effect of marijuana and are sold as
incense.

"It's a lot easier to outlaw (a drug) than it is to get one legalized,"
said Rep. Rob Olson, the Olathe Republican who sponsored the House bill
outlawing synthetic marijuana. The bill passed a final House vote on
Wednesday.

But Finney suspects the times may be a changing. She said several
lawmakers have quietly endorsed her idea.

"Everybody said 'oh, it's a good idea, but I don't want to touch it,' "
she said.

That confirms the suspicion of Keith Stroup, founder of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Stroup said NORML's studies
show that 80 percent of Americans favor medical marijuana.

"Even in Midwestern states like Kansas, where the politics can be
conservative, people support this," he said. "We've largely won the hearts
and minds of the American public, but we haven't yet figured out fully how
to translate that into public policy."

Bob Stephan, former Kansas attorney general, has advocated for medical
marijuana for years. He endured years of chemotherapy in the '70s and said
fellow patients found that marijuana worked wonders on the pain and
nausea.

Stephan predicts Kansas will someday legalize medical marijuana - but only
after lawmakers realize it won't hurt them politically.

"For some reason marijuana just drives people up the wall," he said. "It's
OK to have morphine and every drug known to man - some with just awful
side effects. But not marijuana."

A legislative hearing for Finney's bill hasn't been scheduled. Rep. Brenda
Landwehr, a Wichita Republican and chairwoman of the House health
committee, said she opposes medical marijuana. But she's open to holding
hearings.

"If we have time," Landwehr said.