Although the prospects of marijuana legalization remain dim in the Sunflower State, Kansas House Democrats are holding out hope that Kansas will soon join 46 other states that have made the drug legal in some form.
Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, unveiled a pair of bills on Feb. 24 that would legalize cannabis for medical and adult recreational use. According to Carr, a properly regulated marijuana program would net a major financial windfall for the state.
“Based on what states around us have done, this is a billion-dollar industry,” he said.
Carr said what differentiates this legislation from past failed attempts relates to carve-outs in the bill package that would address other pressing concerns faced by Kansans. The package designates 40% of revenues generated from sales to be earmarked for housing shortages and general affordability, and a smaller portion for property tax relief.
“So we are cutting away 40% of those funds to go into the housing department so that we can create new homes, those that are attainable,” Carr said.
Another 15% would go toward addressing child care needs throughout the state.
“It doesn’t do much good to have a job and not be able to (afford) child care,” Carr said.
The bill also addresses the areas of economic development and restorative justice.
Carr said the biggest roadblocks to legalization have come from Senate leaders and prominent law enforcement officials who have asserted that legalization in other states has resulted in a spike in organized criminal activity.
KBI director Tony Mattivi told lawmakers in October 2024 that if Kansas were to legalize marijuana, it would open the floodgates for cartels and Chinese crime syndicates to infiltrate the state.
Mattivi contended that Chinese investors frequently zero in on “large swaths of land” for cultivation purposes in states that have legalized. Sen. President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, remains adamantly opposed to marijuana reform, despite recent polling data showing that roughly 7 in 10 Kansans “strongly or somewhat” favor legalization of medical marijuana, while 14% of those surveyed were in opposition.
Around 65% of respondents said they were likely to vote for a candidate who supported medical marijuana legalization.
Masterson, declined to comment for the article, but like other high-ranking officials, has previously railed against other states that he believes have done a poor job of regulating medical marijuana use. For example, critics have asserted that Oklahoma’s medical cannabis program quickly proliferated into one that leans toward recreational use due to the ease of obtaining the drug at dispensaries.
Another reason Republicans are blocking marijuana legislation is to prevent Gov. Laura Kelly from claiming victory on that front, Carr said, while labeling those lawmakers as “self-serving.”
“I believe if we had a Republican governor that the Republican party would have had more of an appetite for this,” Carr told The Capital-Journal. “It is my opinion that they have been holding out, so as not to give Laura Kelly credit for something that is going to be life-changing.”
Rep. John Alcala, D-Topeka, said that he has received many emails from parents whose children could greatly benefit from medical cannabis for conditions causing seizures. And he said he receives just as much correspondence from veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
“So we need to try to move this forward because those are the people that are on my priority list,” Alcala said.
Rep. Angela Martinez, D-Wichita, said prohibition has failed because marijuana use hasn’t stopped.
“Legalizing and regulating marijuana allows Kansas to control access, protect public safety, generate revenue for priorities like education and mental health and end life-altering criminal penalties for low-level offenses,” Martinez said.
Rep. Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita, also supports marijuana reform for some of the same reasons mentioned by Alcala. Hoheisel said veterans suffering from PTSD and other serious ailments shouldn’t have to resort to opioid use when medical marijuana is readily available in many other states.
“That’s the argument that drew me to support it,” he said.
But Hoheisel said it’s too late in the session to gain any traction on the issue.
“We’ve seen other states that have rushed marijuana legislation through, namely Oklahoma, and it’s been a disaster,” he said. “So we need to make sure that it’s legislation we’re carefully crafting, and I think that takes an entire session.”
Hoheisel said he doesn’t necessarily view a marijuana program as a way of generating significant tax revenue. But just across the border, Missouri’s legal cannabis program generated $255 million between state and local municipalities last year.
“If you tax it too high, you push it back underground,” he said.
Carr is hopeful his legislation will receive a hearing this session, but added that the 2027 session may provide the opening needed to “move the needle” on the issue. He said that involves Kansas Democrats making significant gains in the upcoming November election.
“I am definitely confident that we’re going to gain some seats,,” he said, “and there will be some people that are no longer in the building this time next year.”