Kansas lawmakers are likely going to act on medical marijuana in the 2025 session. Maybe. Medical marijuana is becoming a perennial debate in Topeka, and it’s annually unclear how likely it is for a bill to pass. “I have sat through, I don’t know, three interim committee meetings,” said Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park […]
cannabis
Posted inHealth
Missouri ended its cannabis prohibition. Now it’s looking at the public health consequences
Since Missouri legalized marijuana in 2018, Dr. Bob Batterson has noticed a change in attitudes. The Children’s Mercy Hospital psychiatrist more often hears from parents wondering if cannabis could help their child’s anxiety, autism or OCD. “I tell them there are no studies,” said Batterson, the medical associate director of the hospital’s Division of Developmental […]
Posted inState Government
National marijuana companies recruit Missourians to land licenses meant for people harmed by weed prohibition
This story originally indicated that Mike Halow declined comment. A public relations firm representing him later said that was his father, who has the same name. Aimee Gromowsky was puzzled when she found a flier in her mailbox asking her to apply for a cannabis dispensary license. In bold letters on one side, it read: “ONCE […]
Posted inHealth
What’s in your weed? A Missouri state lab to check industry claims
Missouri plans to spend millions from state marijuana taxes on a laboratory to help regulators keep tabs on the safety and potency of more than $1 billion of joints, edibles and other cannabis products sold annually across the state. Health experts and consumer groups applauded the added regulatory check, outlined in an Oct. 11 report […]
Posted inState Government
Medical marijuana still faces opposition from Kansas law enforcement
Kansas police are once again saying no to drugs — including medical marijuana. On Tuesday, groups representing police chiefs, sheriffs and peace officers across the state continued to shoot down the idea of legalizing medical marijuana. They argued that legal weed would create a more lawless Kansas where cartels roam the streets and opioid deaths […]
Posted inKansas State Government
Missouri legalized weed last year, yet Kansas saw little increase in drug arrests
Takeaways: More than 1 million Kansans live within an hour’s drive of Missouri and its dispensaries selling legal cannabis at seemingly every strip mall. Yet even with that new, easy access to legal weed, fewer people face arrest in Kansas on marijuana charges. Prosecutors and police remain obliged to enforce the state’s prohibition on cannabis […]
Posted inLabor
Kansas City cannabis dispensary workers win union to gain leverage in a growing industry
Takeaways:1. Workers at the Homestate Dispensary have voted to establish the first cannabis union in the area in the Kansas City market. 2. Homestate employees have complained about not receiving paid holidays and a lack of security in the workplace. They want better pay, job security, better health insurance and protections from wrongful termination. 3. This unionization […]
Posted inState Government
What to know about buying recreational marijuana in Missouri
On Nov. 8, Missourians voted “yes” on Amendment 3, which legalized recreational use of marijuana, meaning you’ll now be able to buy weed, like marijuana flower or edibles, in the coming months. Starting Dec. 8, the state will begin transitioning its medical marijuana licenses to recreational licenses, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able […]