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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014
PAGE 7A
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REGIONAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pot store general manager David Martinez labels containers of retail marijuana behind a sales bar fitted with a brochure available to customers at 3D Cannabis Center, a day before opening as a recreational retail outlet in Denver. Nationwide marijuana legalization seems inevitable to three-fourths of Americans, according to a new poll out on Wednesday. The Pew Research Center survey on the nation's shifting attitudes about drug policy also showed increased support for moving away from mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders.
POLITICS Kansas Senate passes bill voiding gun rules
TOPEKA — A Kansas proposal seen by the National Rifle Association as a model for stripping cities and counties of the power to regulate firearms and nullify existing local gun ordinances is on track to clear the state Legislature quickly after the Senate approved it Wednesday.
The measure would prevent cities and counties from regulating firearms sales or how guns are stored or transported by their owners. It would ensure that gun owners could openly carry their firearms across the state, though local officials still could prohibit open carrying in public buildings.
Senators approved the gunrights bill, 34-2, sending it to the House. Supporters were engineering a vote in the House by the end of the week, so that the measure could go to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
The bill is being pushed by the Kansas State Rifle Association. Supporters say a patchwork of local regulations confuses gun owners and infringes upon gun-ownership rights guaranteed by the state and U.S. constitutions.
"We want consistency in the law," said Rep. Steve Brunk, a Wichita Republican and the chairman of a House committee that earlier approved a separate but identical bill awaiting action in the chamber.
California and Nebraska have narrow pre-emption laws that leave substantial power to local officials and five — Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York — don't expressly pre-empt local regulation.
Brownback said Wednesday only that he'd review the bill if it reaches his desk, but he acknowledged that he's been a strong gun-rights supporter. He's signed gun-rights bills in the past.
Both the National Rifle Association and the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence say 43 states, including Kansas, already significantly limit the ability of cities and counties to regulate firearms, though they vary widely in how far they go. The center says
Critics of the measure contend local officials know best what policies will work for their communities.
John Commerford, a National Rifle Association lobbyist, said the legislation being considered in Kansas could become "model pre-emption in firearms law."
Student falls to death after eating pot cookie
"We have not had that," she said.
Investigators believe Pongi and his friends came to Colorado to try marijuana, Weiss-Samaras said.
Opposition from some local officials — and the prospects of a lengthy debate on gun-rights and gun-control proposals — kept House leaders from scheduling a debate on the issue.
An autopsy report lists marijuana intoxication as a "significant contributing factor" in the death of 19-year-old Levi Thamba Pongi, a native of the Republic of Congo who fell from a motel balcony on March 11.
The friends told investigators that Pongi ate the cookie and "exhibited hostile behavior" that included pulling things off walls and speaking erratically, the autopsy report
It marked the first time the Denver medical examiner's office has listed a marijuana edible as a contributor to a death, said Michelle Weiss-Samaras, a spokeswoman for the office.
But both chambers passed separate versions of a technical bill regulating how law enforcement agencies return confiscated firearms to their owners if they've been cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — A Wyoming college student visiting Denver on spring break jumped to his death after eating a marijuana cookie that his friend legally purchased in one of Colorado's recreational pot shops, authorities said Wednesday.
The medical examiner's office had Pongi's body tested
Authorities said one of Pongi's friends was old enough to buy the cookie from a pot shop. It was unclear whether the friend might face charges.
Attempts by the three friends to calm Pongi seemed to work until he went outside and jumped over the balcony railing, according to the report.
said
Colorado law bans the sale of recreational marijuana products to people under 21. It is also illegal for those under 21 to possess marijuana, and adults can be charged with a felony for giving it to someone under the legal age.
NORTHWEST COLLEGE
Denver police ruled the death an accident but said their investigation remains open.
"All of us were deeply saddened by this tragic incident and feel for his family."
tor at least 250 different substances, including bath salts and synthetic marijuana, which are known to cause strange behavior. His blood tested positive only for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, according to the report.
One of Pongi's friends also tried the cookie but stopped after feeling sick, Weiss-Samaras said.
The marijuana concentration in Pongi's blood was 7.2 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood. Colorado law says juries can assume someone is driving while impaired by marijuana if their blood contains more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of the chemical.
Officials at Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., say Pongi started taking classes as an exchange student in January. He was studying engineering.
"The Northwest College campus community continues to grieve after Levy's death," the college said in a statement. "All of us were deeply saddened by this tragic incident and feel for his family."
POLICY
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Tax credit clouds Kansas Senate private school bill
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA - Critics of a proposal to give a property tax credit to parents of students attending private schools in Kansas questioned Wednesday whether the provision would be legal and if it treats all taxpayers equal. Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, said Wednesday that the idea was to help defray the costs to parents who choose to send their children to nonpublic schools. Parents would get a credit equal to the cost of tuition, fees or other expenses deducted from their school property taxes every year.
The proposal was added to the Senate's school funding bill, which would spend $129 million to satisfy a March 1 Kansas Supreme Court ruling. The order found the state's funding formula was unconstitutional as it relates to two funds aimed at equalizing spending for poor school districts.
"This is not a voucher," he said. "And we put a limit on it."
To qualify for the tax credit, parents would have to have
their children enrolled in qualifying private schools and submit their expenses to the county treasurer for verification. Parents could get up to $1,000 per student and $2,500 per household in tax credits that would be applied to what they owe every six months to fund local school districts. The credit could not be carried forward to apply against future tax liabilities.
who made the choice not to send their students to public schools. She said that leaves the rest of the public to carry the burden of paying for public education, a service typically as beneficial to the public good.
Critics point out that taxpayers also pay for other private services that are also offered by government, including trash collection and recreational facilities.
"We're trying to keep it as simple as possible," Pyle said. "Folks who are enrolling their kids in private schools and 100 percent of the cost will be able to have their taxes reduced. It's about fairness."
"I think this is just a bad precedent for us," said Sen. Laura Kelly, ranking Democrat from Topeka on the Senate budget committee.
About 30,000 Kansas students are enrolled in private schools, not counting those who are homeschooled.
The Nickerson Republican said there were a lot of questions about the legality of the proposal and whether the state or local schools would be on the hook to pay parents the refunds.
"Where does it stop?" she said.
Kelly said it's unfair to target a benefit for people
Where it ends may be the Senate floor when the bill is debated, said Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce.
"I have a lot of questions, as do others, about the fiscal impact," Bruce said. "Our first priority is to get a workable product in negotiations with the House. I don't know that this is part of it or not."
Pyle said he relied on a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Arizona tax case that suggested that such refunds were legal because the money was going back to the parents and not being spent by the government on religious schools.
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