The Kansas Safe Access Act has been submitted to the Senate and House. It sits in the Human Health and Services Committee as well as the Public Health and Welfare Committee.
The bill has met all recommendations by the Kansas Health Institute per their impact assassessment (http://www.khi.org/policy/article/mmhia). The KSAA has also been been approved by the largest cannabis regulatory group in the industry, Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards (FOCUS) http://www.focusstandards.org/services-for-public-agencies/.
It is a comprehensive, and well regulated bill, with an emphasis on a Kansas focused model that seeks to protect patients, caregivers, and medical providers, as well as ensure public safety and environmental health. It also seeks to answer the very urgent need for new revenue, business, and skilled jobs in Kansas.
With projected potential market of 12.7%, the 6% POS tax could generate over $80 million dollars in just a few years. Other revenue will come from fees, taxes on business, income tax on newly generated skilled jobs, and tourism made possible by reciprocity rules, all driving potential revenue even higher.
The Kansas Safe Access Act is an ecologically sustainable bill, including imperative water conservation and recycling mandates.
This is a not-for-profit bill. All proceeds above base costs will be given back in free, or reduced priced services to patients, including nutritional support, group support, medical device exchange, and many more options. These services can even be extended to the community, even allowing a collective to sponsor a traveling nurse practitioner, or dentist to a rural community. These services could have an enormously beneficial impact on rural health efforts.
Revenue will support public health, public mental health, school health programs, school mental health programs, and medical research at Kansas universities. Currently, Kansas research can only be done as studies of other researchers’ studies. Kansas university researchers deserve to take their place at the lead of this rapidly expanding field.
Our patients have waited for too long.
Medical cannabis bills were first introduced in the Kansas legislature in 2009. Far too many lives have been lost. Far too many coffers have been drained. Kansas needs to takes its place in this market, which is expected to reach $20-$40 billion dollars by 2020. Kansas must move to grant her citizens safe and legal access to cannabinoid therapeutics when recommended by their medical providers.
It’s time, Kansas.
Lisa Sublett is the president and founder of Bleeding Kansas Advocates. Contact her at [email protected] or (913) 396-9675.