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Drizzle, rain in forecast

Drizzle and rain are expected this morning through the day over the region, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Showers and a few thunderstorms will return late Monday into Tuesday. Severe weather is not anticipated at this time, the weather service said.

Up to 1.5 inches of precipitation is possible in the next few days, according to the weather service.

Temperatures will be colder, dropping into a high of 33, for Friday and the weekend, the weather service said.

Below normal temperatures are forecast for late this week and continuing through the end of December.

Today, there is a slight chance of drizzle with patchy fog before 10 a.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 45 with an east southeast wind of 11 to 14 mph, gusting up to 25 mph.

Tonight, there is a 100 percent chance of drizzle, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight, according to the weather service. There will be patchy fog after 5 a.m. The low will be 41 with an east southeast wind of 13 to 16 mph, gusting as high as 29 mph. Between a quarter and half-inch of rain is possible.

Tuesday, there is a 100 percent chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 9 a.m., then rain, mainly between 9 a.m. and noon, the weather service said. There could be patchy fog before noon, with a low of 41. An east southeast wind of 13 to 16 mph will gust as high as 29 mph. Between a quarter and half-inch of rain is possible.

Tuesday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 30 and a southwest wind of 6 to 9 mph, gusting as high as 18 mph, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, clouds will increase and the high will be near 41, the weather service said. A west southwest wind of 6 to 14 mph may gust as high as 23 mph.

Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 29, according to the weather service.

Thursday, it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 37, the weather service said.

Thursday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 24, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 33, the weather service said.

Friday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 18, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 29, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 17, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 31, the weather service said.

Lawmakers plan to introduce medical marijuana legislation at start of session

At second-to-last committee meeting on medical marijuana, lawmakers express cautious optimism

by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — After months of meetings, compiling data and listening to research, lawmakers say they’re ready to take another shot at legalizing medical marijuana.

Sen. Rob Olson, R-Olathe, and chair of the 2022 Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, said he planned to introduce a medical marijuana bill at the beginning of the January legislative session. Olson said passing legislation out of committee would be too difficult, and he planned to introduce it in the Senate as an alternative approach.

“I think what I’m going to do is — and any member is more than welcome — is to take this information and create the bill,” Olson said. “And I’m going to work on a bill with a couple members and then if anybody wants to sign on in the Senate, they’ll be more than able to sign onto that bill, and introduce it at the beginning of session.”

He encouraged lawmakers in the House to introduce similar legislation.

“I think that’s probably the best way forward,” Olson said.

The road to legalizing medical marijuana has been a long and rocky one, with Kansans and lawmakers divided. During Friday’s committee meeting, several members of the audience wore stickers reading, “Kansas says ‘No,’ ” to register their disapproval of limited legalization.

“Opening up that window leads to all kinds of corruption,” Wichita resident Denise Meirowsky said. She said her experiences with her 19-year-old son, who uses marijuana as self-medication for mental and emotional issues, showed her the negative influence of marijuana.

“It causes him not to have any ambition, not want to work, not want to do anything because of the abuse of marijuana. I haven’t been convinced yet of the medical benefits. I’ve seen personally what it’s done to my own son,” Meirowsky said.

On the other side of the room, Wichita State University senior Laura Cunningham, who was there as part of a school assignment, said she supported legalization of medical marijuana as a step forward for Kansas.

“I feel like a lot of people who do smoke marijuana are very productive members of society, and actually function better because of it. I think a lot of people have found this balance that is appropriate for them as an individual, and that’s what really matters. I don’t think that legalizing marijuana is going to necessarily cause this huge influx of people not having the motivation to participate in society,” Cunningham said.

During the meeting, lawmakers were given overviews of research on marijuana product packaging and labeling, limitations to amounts of medical marijuana that one person can possess, local taxation for marijuana and procedures for allowing medical marijuana access for incarcerated people. The feeling in the room seemed to be that the lawmakers had been given all the necessary information, with the meeting ending about three hours earlier than expected.

“You’ve had eight state agencies visit with you, you’ve had nine or 10 research memos by the legislative research department, you’ve had over 60 conferees that have testified in two days before this committee and you have reviewed a couple of bills that were alive last session and so on. In other words, you’ve been inundated with information,” said Mike Heim, a staff member in the Office of Revisor of Statutes, while giving his overview to lawmakers.

In 2021, the Kansas House approved medical marijuana legalization, but Senate Bill 560, which would have allowed for the cultivation, distribution, processing, dispensing and purchase of marijuana and paraphernalia, died in committee during the last days of the legislative session.

Senate President Ty Masterson said budget and school funding legislation were a higher priority to him than medical marijuana.

Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, said she hoped medical marijuana legalization legislation would pass the Senate this time, but she remembered of last year’s failure.

“The whole issue is last year, we had a very strong bill that passed the House, and Senate President Ty Masterson wouldn’t allow it to move forward. So I know there are different parties who have been reaching out to him to remind him of how important an issue this is to a lot of different people. So time will tell,” Holscher said.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/11/lawmakers-plan-to-introduce-medical-marijuana-legislation-at-start-of-session/