TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee isn’t ready to endorse a narrow medical marijuana proposal.
The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee voted Tuesday to forward a medical marijuana bill to the full Senate without a recommendation on whether it should pass. The measure would allow therapeutic hemp oil to be used in treating seizures.
Republicans who control the panel expect the measure to be sent to another committee that handles health issues.
The medical marijuana proposal had been tied to another proposal to lessen criminal penalties for first- and second-time marijuana possession. The House passed a single bill covering both subjects last year.
The Senate corrections committee split the measures into two bills. It approved the one lowering penalties for marijuana possession and sent it to the full Senate for debate.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee is preparing to debate a bill that would loosen the state’s marijuana laws.
The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee was meeting Tuesday to discuss a bill that passed the House last year.
The measure would decrease the maximum penalties for first-time, misdemeanor marijuana possession to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine from a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. A second possession conviction would no longer be a felony.
The bill also would allow therapeutic hemp oil to be used in treating seizures and set up a program to research industrial hemp production.
The measure drew support in a hearing from parents with children who suffer serious seizures, but some advocates for medical marijuana do not think it goes far enough.