Kansas Committee Recommends Legislature On Medical Marijuana
- last year
Kansas lawmakers said marijuana legalization, political stances and state funding were potential roadblocks in addressing the state’s severe workforce shortage. Sen. Virgil Peck, R-Havana, said the Special Committee on Workforce Development needed to talk about marijuana legalization before lawmakers discussed it during the upcoming legislative session.
Lawmakers passed a motion to make a recommendation that the legislature “proceed with caution” with marijuana legislation during the Monday committee hearing, by a 4-3 vote.
Peck brought up the issue, saying the idea came to him earlier in that day while taking a shower. “I didn’t think of it until taking a shower this morning, about 7:30. It came to me that that plays into workforce development,” he said. Peck said marijuana was a significant problem in his part of the state, with employers not willing to hire employees who couldn’t pass a drug test. He said that marijuana was a safety liability, and could impede business where workers had to use heavy machinery and could be injured.
Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, opposed the recommendation, saying that legislators didn’t have to be drug tested, so neither should Kansas workers.
Lawmakers passed a motion to make a recommendation that the legislature “proceed with caution” with marijuana legislation during the Monday committee hearing, by a 4-3 vote.
Peck brought up the issue, saying the idea came to him earlier in that day while taking a shower. “I didn’t think of it until taking a shower this morning, about 7:30. It came to me that that plays into workforce development,” he said. Peck said marijuana was a significant problem in his part of the state, with employers not willing to hire employees who couldn’t pass a drug test. He said that marijuana was a safety liability, and could impede business where workers had to use heavy machinery and could be injured.
Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, opposed the recommendation, saying that legislators didn’t have to be drug tested, so neither should Kansas workers.