Yesterday, December 1, three billboards advocating for some sort of marijuana legalization in the state were put up in Topeka. The group “Fire It Up Kansas” is behind the billboards and has been working towards pro-marijuana legislation since 2013. Kansas is one of 14 states without legal access to medical marijuana. Mike Golden, of “Fire It Up” says the goal is for legislatures to get their minds on some kind of legalization. Governor Laura Kelly last week said she hopes to use medical marijuana to help pay for medicaid expansion.
According to Golden, there are currently two pieces of legislation in the Kansas Statehouse: one in the senate and one in the house. Both are geared to legalize medical marijuana. One mirrors Oklahoma’s marijuana laws, while the other mimics Ohio’s more restrictive approach. Golden says people in his cannabis community would rather have one like Oklahoma’s program, as Ohio’s is much more restrictive. But still, he says a medicinal use bill wouldn’t fix the problem of criminality.
