Kansas Measure Takes a Step Forward Despite House Leadership Efforts to Block
TOPEKA, KS — Last Tuesday, the Kansas House held an informational hearing on HB 2330, a Compassionate Care measure filed by Rep. Gail Finney (D-Wichita).
Those of us in attendance were treated to the usual display of combativeness and disrespect that we’ve grown accustomed to from Chairperson Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita) as she demonstated her ability to manipulate testimony with questionable time-management practices, often cutting off testimony mid-stream by proponents, while allowing more time to opponents, such as Dr. Eric Voth and his wife.
Following the hearing she commented that “there wasn’t enough interest” and indicated that this measure would likely not proceed. Fair enough; she had her say, now it’s my turn and before you buy into her reasoning there are a few things you should know.
First, we wouldn’t have had a hearing in the first place if there hadn’t been enough interest in the subject. It was a direct result of the thousands of phone calls, letters and e-mails from our supporters that made this hearing possible in the first place, House Speaker Mike O’Neil and H&HS Chair Landwehr are both on the record as vehemently opposing this measure and the hearing was held in the hopes of convincing Kansas voters that they’d listened to their comments.
The lack of interest is solely on their part, not Kansas voters though.
Next is the news of another avenue of legislative consideration announced on Tuesday. While we were gathered in an adjacent room preparing to testify before the House Committee, Ks. Senator David Haley (D-KC) stopped by and addressed a group of us including Dr. John Hauxwell, Rep. Finney, Jason Selmon (Kannabis Project) myself and a couple others to wish us well and inform us that earlier in the day, he had introduced a companion measure in the Kansas Senate, the draft of which would be prepared and submitted as soon as possible.
He expressed his desire to submit a measure of impeccable quality, likely modeled after a combination of HB2330, a recent Kansas Senate measure and the New Mexico law. In doing this, Sen. Haley gave us a way to avoid the House roadblocks and begin serious open debate in the Senate instead.
Likewise, it was also recently announced that Midwest Hempfest will be held in Kansas this year for the first time at Clinton Lake in Douglas County during the Labor Day Weekend, and there are plans currently in the works for several opportunities for Kansans to Rally in support of MM in the next couple of months.
Not bad for a state where “there isn’t enough interest,” huh?
No my friends, this is simply political posturing and a vain attempt at disinformation by House leadership in total disregard to the interests of the people of our state.
We now know our strengths and our weaknesses, and are working hard to prepare for what is believed to be a fast approaching appearance before the Kansas Senate Committee. We are trying to locate individuals in certain municipalities within Kansas willing to testify in an effort to address specific legislators as their constituents and would appreciate anyone willing to do so please contact us immediately for a list of those cities and possible testimony topics.
We are also very interested in speaking with more people in health related fields; Physicians, Nurses, Clinicians, Psyciatrists and Counselors please contact us if you have input that you feel pertinent on our measure as it applies to your chosen field. We need everyones help now too, no more sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting. We’ve never had an opportunity like this before; let’s not waste it by not taking part.
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Tumbenhower
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Shelby Stevens
