While thousands of patients cross the border with medical cards in hand, countless more are buying recreational cannabis without a prescription. That’s unlikely to change as some Kansas lawmakers signal resistance to medical legalization in 2025.
TOPEKA — Thousands of Kansans are crossing the Missouri border with medical marijuana cards in hand, and that’s unlikely to change as Kansas lawmakers resist medical legalization in 2025.
Legislators tabled a medical marijuana bill in March and promised to revisit it at the beginning of the 2025 session, which begins Jan. 13. In October, a majority of medical marijuana committee members declined in a 5-4 vote to urge the Legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill.
Anyone can bring a bill for consideration at any time, said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, at the October committee meeting.
“But I think it would not be the place of this committee to force upon the Legislature a bill when a large number — well, quite a few of the committee — I think still have a lot of questions,” he said.
Thompson has been cautioning legislators against making a hasty decision for at least two years.
Nearly 2,200 Kansans are medical marijuana patients in Missouri, according to October data obtained through a public records request from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Outgoing Rep. Dennis “Boog” Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat, pointed to polls that show more than 70% of Kansans favor legalization.
“I think if we don’t come back to this in January, it will just die or get punted until next year,” he said.
Medical and recreational sales in Missouri in 2024 have totaled more than $1.3 billion combined as of October, according to the state’s cannabis patient, caregiver and consumer data. Most of the sales, about $1.1 billion worth, were recreational, which began in February 2023.
Taxes gleaned from marijuana sales — 4% on medical and 6% on recreational — have funneled millions of dollars to Missouri’s veterans commission, public defense system and a substance use treatment program within the health department.
The Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce has been watching the number of people taking Kansas dollars to Missouri, but its focus has shifted to hemp instead of marijuana after years of adversarial legislative sessions, said Erren Wright, the chamber’s board president.
Small businesses and community members are suffering, she said. All the while, she said legislators continue to act in bad faith.
“We’re really unhappy with the way Kansas is going about this,” Wright said.
Grace Hoge, a spokeswoman for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s office, said medical marijuana legalization is a widely supported, “commonsense” policy.
“Gov. Kelly has been consistent in her belief that legalizing medical marijuana would improve Kansas’ overall health and economy and help those who suffer from chronic pain and serious illnesses,” Hoge said. “She will continue to support the passage of a Kansas-specific approach that is both feasible and well-regulated.”
Cannabis on all four corners
Some legislators expressed interest at the October meeting in waiting to see the results of marijuana ballot measures in Nebraska and Florida in the 2024 general election.
Nebraska voters approved a medical marijuana program, joining the ranks of other Kansas neighbors Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma. While a majority of Florida voters favored a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis, it was 4 percentage points short of the required 60% threshold for passage. Recreational cannabis is permitted for people 21 and older in Missouri and Colorado.
Colorado doesn’t allow medical marijuana cardholders to live outside the state upon applying, said Mariah La Rue, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Center for Health and Environmental Data. Similarly, Oklahoma requires out-of-state medical marijuana cardholders to possess licenses from their own state.
The true number of Kansans crossing state lines to access some form of legal cannabis is unknown.
The Kansas Highway Patrol is aware of the exploration of legalized cannabis in and around Kansas, but it’s focused on impaired driving, said April McCollum, a spokeswoman for the patrol.
“We strive to provide our troopers and other officers both in and out of state with the most current and reliable methods for removing impaired drivers from our roadways,” she said. “We will continue to remain focused on these efforts.”
