Dear editor,
Kansas legislators have tabled a bill for medical marijuana. The Governor was ready to sign the bill, but lawmakers and law enforcement are against it. It is unconscionable for our legislators and the police officers of Kansas to not recognize the health benefits for those that live with chronic pain.
If medical marijuana cannot be legalized in Kansas, why are liquor and cigarettes legal.
To deprive those who had tried every legal drug for pain management and have the legal drugs fail, where medical marijuana has succeeded, what is left for them? Kansas is one of just a few states without a good Samaritan law that encourages people to call 911 by shielding them from prosecution when they witness a drug overdose.
It’s also just one of 11 states that doesn’t permit syringe service programs that provide sterile injection equipment to people who inject drugs.
Most of the drug overdose deaths in Kansas — and nationwide — involve fentanyl, a synthetic opioid often mixed with other drugs like cocaine or methamphetamine. Many users are unaware the substances they buy illegally contain synthetic opioids like fentanyl to make them more potent.
Last but not least, I have known several people who have used marijuana for pain medication.
It keeps their pain in check, so they don’t go after illegal drugs such as fentanyl, or they have reduced their prescribed drugs the have used for years.
I am not saying Marijuana is a miracle drug. What I am saying is that it has a different action than what hard core drugs do.
Some people get high for fun, but a lot of people use it for pain. There are far fewer known traffic fatalities from marijuana than hard core drugs or alcohol.
So, what’s really going on here? Well, perhaps manufacturers of legal pain medication and those that produce alcohol are more worried about medical marijuana taking a piece of their pie. Its time to dust off the law for medical marijuana in the state of Kansas and pass it so people who live with chronic pain can have medical marijuana.
— Alzina Kress,
Iola, Kan.
