Kansas Legislature 2007-2008

Find the address and contact information for your state legislators.

Here are the bills under consideration that impact Drug Policy in Kansas during the 2008 session.

Hint to lawmakers in Topeka! Drug control strategies that include effective drug education are what deter kids from getting hooked on drugs, not more laws!

SB 556: KS Medical Marijuana Defense Act, a bill to allow a person charged with possession of marijuana to bring a written certification from a physician to the judge or jury in their case. Currently someone may not bring up a medical necessity defense to a judge or jury. The bill was killed by the Senate Health Care Strategies Committee. For more information on the bill, see the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition website.

HB 2545: Makes second possesion of Ecstasy (MDMA) a Felony in Kansas. This bill will amend the statute that currenly makes second possession of marijuana a felony by adding ecstasy to the language. The approximate cost of this bill is over $1 million dollars a YEAR to implement. There is no reason for this bill, except to spend more tax dollars arresting drug offenders.
DPFKS testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 19. The bill passed the House 117-2 and the Senate 40-0 and will become law. For the full text of the bill click here.

SB 481: Adds gypsum weed and salvia to list of hallucinogenic drugs: "very dangerous to teenagers" says Tom Stanton even though there is no evidence this bill is even necessary at this time. Find the text of the bill here. The bill passed the Senate 40-0 on February 20th, and 122-1 by the House on March 27. It's now in conference committee to approve the final language. The bill goes into effect upon publication in the Kansas Register. The only NAY vote was Rep. Bill Wolf of Great Bend.

SB 482: Third conviction for felony possession of drugs shall be presumptive prison to be served in a "state substance abuse treatment facility" for at least 120 days if defendant has already done SB 123 treatment (for first time drug offenders) or been ejected from the facility -- prisoner is presumptive minimum security and does not go to reception and diagnostic center first ---- fourth or subsequuent convictions for felony possession is regular prison.
This bill is being pushed by Sen. Derek Schmidt (goes with 483 and 484 below) who has been pushing for private prisons in Kansas for his home district. The private prison group has already purchased the land for the prison outside Yates Center. This bill would cost taxpayers at least $4000,000 per year to house an additional 15 people at $24,000 per year.
A hearing was held on this bill on February 9. There has not been any further action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SB 483: Court may require an offender who has a "substance abuse violation of conditions of release or assignment or a nonprison sanction" to go do time in a "substance abuse treatment facility" for at least 120 days or upon expiration of probation term ---- prisoner is presumptive minimum security and does not go to reception and diagnostic center first ----- fourth or subsequent convictions for felony possession is regular prison. The cost for this bill is at least $12 million dollars per year! A hearing was held on this bill on February 7. No further action has been taken by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SB 484: The court may order that 3rd and 4th DUI offenders be sent to serve time in a "state substance abuse treatment facility" -- would make post release for 4th time DUI be supervised by community corrections --- also has a retroactive provision for cooncurrent jurisdiction of district and municipal courts ---- prisoner is presumptive minimum security and does not go to reception and diagnostic center first ----- fourth or subsequent convictions for felony possession is regular prison. A hearing was held on February 7th in Senate Judiciary. No further action has been taken.

SB 491: Creates the Prescription Monitoring Program Act - in a nutshell, dispensers of controlled substances or "drugs of concern" have to give all sorts of personal data about the people they dispense these substances to - they have to transmit this data electronically if possible - failure to comply is a SL 10 nonperson felony --- sponsored by 34 senators (A hearing was held February 4th in the Public Health and Welfare Committee. The bill passed the Senate February 20th 40-0, and the House 117-6 on March 28. It is not in conference commitee to finalize the bill language between the House and Senate versions.

SB 503: Methamphetamine Precursor Recording Act - makes a person or pharmacy's failure to comply a level 10 non person felony. This bill has not moved forward this session.

HB 2602: HB 2602 would make it a severity level 9 person felony for a pregnant woman to test positive for drugs. Furthermore, this bill also has the same penalty for "any person to knowingly permit or intentionally cause a child to use, consume, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce a controlled sub- stance into the child’s body." In other words, if your 17 year old smokes marijuana at a friends house and you find out about it - even if you call the police you could be charged with a felony for knowing about your child's marijuana use. This bill would force women to jail rather than drug treatment. This is a bad bill for Kansas! A hearing was held February 13 in the House Federal and State Committee. No further action has been taken on the bill. Read the full text here.

HB 2617: HB 2617 would amend the law regarding driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The bill would require a request by law enforcement officers to test drivers for alcohol or drugs in all accidents for a person operating or attempting to operate a vehicle and the vehicle has been involved in serious injury or death. An exception would be when the law enforcement officer determines the operator’s action did not contribute to the accident.
Under the bill, forced body samples, such as blood, breath, and urine, can be taken when directed by a written statement of a law enforcement officer. If a person needs to be restrained to collect the sample, law enforcement would be responsible for applying any such restraint. Exceptions to the forced withdrawal of samples or urine.
This bill passed the House and the Senate and is now in final conference commitee before becoming law.

SB 590: Establishing the substance abuse policy board. SB 590, as amended, would require the Kansas Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to create the Substance Abuse Policy Board to consult and advise the Council on issues and policies pertaining to the treatment, sentencing, rehabilitation and supervision of substance abuse offenders. The Board also would be required to study driving under the influence and the use of drug courts by other states. Passed the Senate 39-0 and is now in the House Judiciary commitee.
This bill can be considered a GOOD drug control-policy law because there would be a group of people making recommendations, not just law enforcement.