Kansas Democrats are putting in motion a plan to legalize medical and adult-use marijuana. This legislation would be included in the 2022 ballot. Last Thursday, democratic leaders Tom Sawyer and Jason Probst held a briefing on how they are approaching this legalization issue. They explained that their constituents are urging them to legalize marijuana within the state.
This plan to legalize marijuana is very similar to Iowa’s recently unveiled plan to legalize as well. Many other states are also in the same boat, urging fellow lawmakers to let the voters decide if marijuana should be legalized within their states.
Tom Sawyer has stated that republicans in Kansas are very disinterested in legalizing the drug and that they need to step up to what the constituents want. Since most of Kansas is red, Democrats are pushing to allow the voters to choose, “It’s time to give voters their opportunity to have their say and let the legislature know how they feel,” said, Tom Sawyer in a recent interview.
In another interview, Probst stated, “I’m eager for people in Kansas to enjoy the same benefits that people have in other states…We are an island. We are surrounded by states who provide for their residents the things that they want. And Kansas, leadership in this building, has decided they know better than Kansans what they should have…During the upcoming legislative session, House and Senate Republicans will have an opportunity to demonstrate that they honestly value and trust the voters of Kansas to decide what’s best for the state, or if they simply support public votes when it’s politically advantageous to their re-election campaigns,
Sawyer and Probst say they have nearly full support from the democratic caucus. Expect to see cannabis legislative reform on the ballot in 2022.
Read the unedited article here.
