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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015
PAGE 9A
Kansas lawmakers hope for medical pot progress
BILL DRAPER Associated Press
TOPEKA. Kan. — Kansas could become the 24th state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana - or the 50th. Either way, a state senator believes there will come a time when people across the country will be able to find some legal relief from their chronic illnesses by smoking cannabis.
Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, and his counterpart in the House, Democratic Rep. Gail Finney of Wichita, have introduced medical marijuana measures every year since 2009, but none has ever gone beyond informational hearings, in which no action can be taken. This year, Haley thinks that might change.
This year, Haley thinks that might change.
"I think the ice is beginning to thaw regarding the reasonableness of the issue among the leadership of the Legislature," he said.
And Finney, who has undergone chemotherapy for lupus, thinks the bill will at
least get a hearing after being brushed aside by Republican leadership for so many years. "Passing, I don't know about that," she said.
The chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, Rep. Dun Hawkins, said he is waiting to see what the Senate does with the medical marijuana issue.
"Nobody's come and really pushed it," the Wichita Republican said, adding that he's heard very little from his constituents about it.
House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, said the issue isn't on his list of priorities.
"I've got a lot of other things on my radar screen, that are a lot more important," he said.
Both measures — SB9 and HB2011 would create compassion centers where qualifying patients with a registry identification card could legally obtain marijuana.
Currently 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical
marijuana, while it's legal in four states — Colorado and Washington, initially, and Oregon and Alaska this year — to use pot recreationally.
Informational hearings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in the Senate's Public Health and Welfare Committee to hear from both supporters and opponents of medical marijuana.
At the first informational hearing in 2010, most of the Republicans on the House Health and Human Services Committee said they had other commitments and got up and left before testimony began, Finney said.
During the next one in 2012, the committee chairwoman "walked in with security guards with the perception there would be a bunch of druggies," Finney said. "To assume that it's only for the shoddiest people and strictly for a recreational front, that's absolutely ludicrous."
About 50 people attended a medical marijuana rally Thursday at the Statehouse sponsored by Haley, Finney
and groups advocating for their bills.
Jon Hauxwell, a retired Hays physician, said he thinks public opinion is shifting away from "baseless charges" that cannabis is toxic. He said it's clear that the state's current approach — criminalizing marijuana and incarcerating casual users — isn't working.
"All over the country we are seeing a gradual acknowledgment of the benefits of rational approaches," Hauxwell said.
He also said with the state's budget problems, medical marijuana also represents a new potential source of tax revenue. "That wouldn't eliminate the budget problem, but it certainly would make a bit of a dent in it," he said.
Esau Freeman, a Wichita resident and president of the pro-medical marijuana group Kansas for Change, said the proposal is far different than laws in Colorado and California.
"No pot doctors. No
Rep. J. Basil Dannebohm, R-Ellinwood, gives his support for medical marijuana legislation in Kansas during a rally on Thursday, Jan. 15, at the statehouse, in Topeka, Kan.
CHRIS NEAL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
recreational marijuana. No dispensaries on the corner," said Freeman, who thinks
a floor debate is possible this year. "I feel the tide is changing."
Supporters of medical marijuana legislation listen to speeches on the topic during a rally Thursday at the statehouse in Topeka. Legislation was filed by both Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, and Rep. Gail Finney, D-Wichita.
CHRIS NEAL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
City to consider proposal for downtown grocery store
@KansanNews
ANDREW COLLINS
For the first time in more than 30 years, downtown Lawrence may have a fullline grocery store. The former Borders bookstore location, according to a new study by A. Townsend Peterson, a University distinguished professor at the Biodiversity Institute, is the best downtown location to put a grocery store.
This store's Seventh and New Hampshire location
would serve most of North Lawrence and the Pinckney neighborhoods, which have been known as "food deserts." A food desert is defined as an area that does not have a grocery store within a 1-mile radius, or is beyond a three-minute drive from a grocery store.
According to David Crawford, a community organizer running for city commissioner, this presents problems for those areas that go far beyond distance issues. The impact of a healthy diet
is harder to come by when a grocery store is so far away.
"It's the closest we've been in over 30 years to making this happen. There have been several attempts, but this is the closest."
DAVID CRAWFORD Community organizer
"This issue can't be
ignored," Crawford said.
The proposed grocery store would bring most of the North Lawrence and Pinckney neighborhoods in a three-minute drive of the new store.
The other proposed location at 11th and Massachusetts does not cover most of these neighborhoods and overlaps with areas that are already covered by the Dillons at 19th and Massachusetts streets.
Despite the second
proposed location, Crawford said he is sure the Borders building will become a grocery store soon.
"We're very close to putting a grocery store in and we are fighting hard for that to happen," Crawford said.
The city of Lawrence is in conversation with Lewis Foods, which owns the Checkers supermarket chain, about putting in a store in the Borders building. The only other challenge for the city is to make sure the current owners of the Borders site are
ready to sell the building and are keeping it reserved for a grocery store.
"Our goal is to protect the site." Crawford said.
According to Crawford, the current proposal for a grocery store in downtown Lawrence is closer to becoming a reality than it ever has been.
"It's the closest we've been in over 30 years to making this happen. There have been several attempts, but this is the closest," Crawford said.
Edited by Casey Hutchins