Kansas' Marijuana Laws Are A Financial Burden So It Is Time For Change In 2010

The New Jersey Legislature approved a measure on Monday that would make the state the 14th in the nation, but one of the few on the East Coast, to legalize the use of marijuana  to help patients with chronic illnesses. It is time for Kansas to step up and allow change.

According to a recent article in USA Today, Kansas faces a $255 million budget shortfall in the coming year. Kansas has some of the strictest marijuana laws in the nation, with possession of any amount of marijuana resulting in a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. For any subsequent offense, the penalty rises to a possible felony punishable by up to 42 months in jail. Because the cost of one year in a Kansas prison is $21,000 for one inmate, these harsh penalties are a leading contributor to Kansas' financial deficit.  It is time for a change.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission has called for some much needed reforms, including assigning repeat, nonviolent marijuana offenders to treatment instead of jail, but even treatment—which is often unnecessary for marijuana offenders—costs $2,500 per inmate, per year.  This money is being wasted.
According to a December 18, 2002, story in the Kansas City Star, Roger Werholtz, who runs the state Department of Corrections, wants the state to spend $14 million more to build additional prison space. Although treatment is certainly cheaper and preferable to building new jails, neither solution adequately addresses the problem.  Stop jailing people for Marijuana. 
Reforming Kansas' draconian marijuana laws would be a logical first step toward saving the state millions of dollars in both the short and long terms. Legislators should seriously consider making marijuana possession offenses punishable in much the same way as a traffic ticket, without threat of imprisonment or permanent sanction. Such a policy change would alleviate the state's deficit situation by freeing up police time, jail space, and money for other, more pressing needs on the State Budget and allow people access to Marijuana. A consistently applied policy of not locking up marijuana offenders would also insure that criminals are held based on the crimes they commit, not the state budget situation.
Please take a few minutes to ask your legislators to change Kansas' marijuana policy as part of their solution to the budget deficit.

There are countless people in Kansas that want the same right as 14 other States.  We have had enough of being jailed and denied the access to Medical Marijuana that we need.

Fourteen states have enacted laws that legalized medical marijuana:

1. Alaska  1998   Ballot Measure 8 (58%)    $25/$201 oz usable; 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature)

2. California  1996  Proposition 215 (56%)  $66/$338 oz usable; 18 plants (6 mature, 12 immature)

3. Colorado  2000  Ballot Amendment 20 (54%)    $902 oz usable; 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature)

4. Hawaii  2000  Senate Bill 862 (32-18 House; 13-12 Senate)    $253 oz usable; 7 plants (3 mature, 4 immature)

5. Maine  1999  Ballot Question 2 (61%)    1.25 oz usable; 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature)

6. Michigan  2008  Proposal 1 (63%)    $100/$252.5 oz usable; 12 plants

7. Montana  2004  Initiative 148 (62%)    $25/$101 oz usable; 6 plants

8. Nevada  2000  Ballot Question 9 (65%)    $150 +1 oz usable; 7 plants (3 mature, 4 immature)

9. New Mexico  2007  Senate Bill 523 (36-31 House; 32-3 Senate)    $06 oz usable; 16 plants (4 mature, 12 immature)

10. Oregon  1998  Ballot Measure 67 (55%)    $100/$2024 oz usable; 24 plants (6 mature, 18 immature)

11. Rhode Island  2006  Senate Bill 0710 (52-10 House; 33-1 Senate)    $75/$102.5 oz usable; 12 plants

12. Vermont  2004  Senate Bill 76 (22-7) HB 645 (82-59)    $502 oz usable; 9 plants (2 mature, 7 immature)

13. Washington  1998  Initiative 692 (59%)     24 oz usable; 15 plants

14.  New Jersey  2010 In the end, however, it passed by comfortable margins in both houses: 48-14 in the General Assembly and 25-13 in the State Senate.

[All 14 states require proof of residency to be considered a qualifying patient for medical marijuana use.]