Sunday, January 22, 2012

For years, Cheryl Riley has been using marijuana to help lessen the symptoms of several of her health problems.

"Cannabis has helped me immensely with that. Not to say it would help everyone, but in my case, it worked," said Cheryl Riley, Kansas Medical Cannabis Network.

This week, Riley and others in support of legalizing the use and sale of medical marijuana will head to Topeka to have their voices heard.

"I've been in the movement for a long time, and as I've gotten older, I'm seeing how much cannabis helps older people with the things that bother them," said Riley.

With House Bill 2330, Riley and other proponents are hoping to establish the Cannabis Compassion and Care Act. If legalized, patients would be issued ID cards for their debilitating medical conditions and would be able to purchase medical marijuana at registered businesses.

"I believe it should be legalized, as long as it's not abused, and people are being responsible," said Blake Overson, Wichita.

"The war on drugs is a waste of time and resources. We have better ways to spend our money," said Rollin Karg, Kechi.

Others do not agree. Several people have been posting their comments at kake.com.

HATEPOT wrote, "It may just be me ive had pain, ive had PTSD and i did find with out frying my brian cells..."

ANONYMOUS wrote, "put this on the back burner people need to get back to work not get high"

Riley says marijuana is not a drug, but a medicine, one that can benefit hundreds of Kansans, and needs to be legalized.

"The more we can get people talking about it out in the open, the better it's going to go," said Riley.

Tuesday's hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. A rally is set for 11:30 a.m. outside the Docking State Office Building in Topeka.