marijuana

Many consumable, hemp-derived products will become illegal again. CBD shop owners in Kansas say the change could kill their whole industry.

Missouri’s first legal sale of cannabis came in early February 2023. Kansas residents could immediately drive over and buy it legally, but risked arrest and prosecution if they brought their joints or gummies across the state line.

Movement on marijuana policy has stalled in the GOP-dominated Kansas Legislature for consecutive sessions, and it’s unclear whether House and Senate leaders will allow a floor vote in the upcoming session.

The road to even partial legalization of marijuana has been a long and rocky one. Last session, the Kansas House approved a medical marijuana bill, while a Senate proposal died in committee.

Those in favor of the ordinance said the current system through the city’s municipal courts negatively impacted younger people caught with marijuana, and could hurt their future employment opportunities.

In the first half of 2021, Kansas was one of the states showing the steepest increase in overdose deaths.

Removing penalties for possession of the test strips and some amounts of marijuana is likely to free up resources at the city’s municipal court, according to those in favor.

Last year, a sheriff’s deputy in Dickinson County, Kansas, stopped one of Empyreal Logistics' vehicles on Interstate 70 and seized nearly $166,000 in cash it was transporting from legal medical marijuana dispensaries in Kansas City, Missouri, to a credit union in Colorado.

Shops in Hays have been told to turn over their stocks of delta-8 THC products to law enforcement, or they could face criminal repercussions.

Only specially certified doctors could recommend cannabis, and only to their long-term patients.