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KANSAN SENIORS CROSS STATE LINES FOR PAIN-RELIEVING CANNABIS | WICHITA EAGLE

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Local


FOR SOME KANSANS, CROSSING STATE LINES FOR CANNABIS TO RELIEVE PAIN IS WORTH THE
RISK

By Amy Geiszler-Jones The Active Age
February 18, 2024 6:49 AM

Gummies on display at a cannabis dispensary. Some Kansans seeking relief from
chronic medical conditions are crossing state lines to acquire cannabis
products. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com

Susan, a retired nurse in her 60s, is tired of being what she calls “a bandit”
whenever she crosses into Kansas carrying what the state classifies as cannabis
contraband.

But the gummies have been the only thing that has helped her get nighttime
relief from the rheumatoid arthritis she’s lived with for the past 30 years or
so. Her husband recalls her saying the morning after she tried gummies for the
first time that it was the best sleep she’d had in years. She’s also found
relief by using a cannabis lotion she’s purchased out of state.

Ken, a 66-year-old retired businessman, said he’d rather take gummies than the
more addictive opioids he’s been prescribed in the past for chronic back pain.

Click to resize

“I don’t have the side effects that the normal painkillers would give me (like
constipation), and it’s a natural product,” he said.

He also suffers from neuropathy in his feet. Taking half of a 25-milligram gummy
each night, when the nerve pain is at its worst, helps him sleep. When he can’t
travel out of state to get his supply, he makes do with hemp-derived gummies
available from CBD shops locally, but they aren’t as effective, he said.

Both hemp and marijuana are cannabis plants, but the levels of THC, the
psychoactive compound, are significantly lower in hemp plants compared to
marijuana. Hemp-derived cannabis products can be bought in Kansas, thanks to a
federal loophole created with the 2018 farm bill that legalized hemp.



For Ken and Susan, who live in Sedgwick County, consuming cannabis products
isn’t about getting high.

It’s about getting relief from chronic medical conditions, even if it means
breaking the law in Kansas where the Legislature has resisted efforts to
legalize medical marijuana or decriminalize any form of marijuana use. (The
Active Age is not using Ken and Susan’s real names for their legal protection.)


SENIORS ARE FASTEST-GROWING GROUP OF CANNABIS USERS

Susan and Ken aren’t alone when it comes to embracing cannabis use as they age.



Americans over the age of 65 are now the fastest-growing demographic of cannabis
users, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a federal
study that has been gathering data for more than half a century on the use of
tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.

Usage among seniors has tripled since 2009, when 11% were using, to 32% in 2019,
according to the survey numbers released in fall 2023.

The attitudes and legal status of marijuana are changing across much of America.

As of 2023, 38 states had legalized medical marijuana, according to the National
Conference of State Legislatures. In 24 of those states, including Kansas’
neighbors Colorado and Missouri, recreational use is also legal.



There might even be some federal government changes regarding marijuana.

A Food and Drug Administration medical review, released in mid-January, supports
reclassifying marijuana as a less-risky drug. Right now, it’s a Schedule I drug,
which is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s category for the most dangerous
controlled substances that have no medical value and a higher potential for
abuse.

The FDA is recommending to the DEA that marijuana be classified as a Schedule
III drug. That classification is for drugs with lower or moderate potential for
abuse and addiction, like Tylenol with codeine. The review also found that there
is credible evidence of some therapeutic uses of marijuana.


MEDICAL VALUE OF CANNABIS

It wasn’t news to Cheryl Kumberg, a registered nurse for more than 45 years,
that cannabis has medicinal value. A member of the American Cannabis Nurses
Association, Kumberg is the current president of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition,
which is an advisory group for cannabis reform in Kansas. Its advisory board
includes doctors, nurses, a hemp grower, a legislator and Barry Grissom, a
former U.S. attorney.



“There’s been so much success with healing and symptom relief … and a lot of
advances made in research. There’s a lot of data that is just so supportive of
cannabis and its uses,” she said.

She and fellow registered nurse Amy Reid, the past president of the Kansas
Cannabis Coalition, created Green Healing Solutions in 2019 to be an education
source about the medical use of marijuana for patients, health care
professionals, caregivers and others.

Part of their education is to remind anyone who decides to use cannabis products
to do so “low and slow.”



One of the things Ken finds useful when he shops at an out-of-state dispensary
is that staff will visit with customers about the strength and usage of
products.

Many advocates for legalizing medical marijuana have been either impacted
personally or have seen the benefits of allowing medical use themselves.

Reid said she became an advocate when she saw how using cannabis dramatically
changed her aunt’s final days as she dealt with a terminal illness.

“She went (from) being in extreme pain, nauseous and very anxious to her old
self. She was able to tell stories, enjoy meals and relax again,” Reid said in
an interview posted on the coalition’s website.



Chuck Schmidt, a former representative for Kansas’ 88th District and the current
speaker pro tem for the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature, said he’s heard
similar stories.

One man told him that his cancer-stricken daughter, who had been able to get a
cannabis product under Texas’ strict medical use program, had to live out her
final days in extreme pain when she returned home to Kansas to be with family.

Taking steps to legalize medical marijuana is one of the resolutions that the
Kansas Silver Haired Legislature forwarded to the Kansas Legislature for its
current session.


LITTLE APPETITE IN KANSAS LEGISLATURE

So far, the Kansas Legislature has shot down efforts to legalize any form of
marijuana. While the Kansas House passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana in
2021, the Kansas Senate didn’t take action, which killed the bill. In 2022, it
convened a special committee on medical marijuana.



“The biggest problem that I see in Topeka is that they’re not able to separate
creating a medical program from recreational,” Kumberg said. “A lot of
(legislative) testimony has dealt with recreational issues and not about having
a controlled program.”

“They don’t understand that little old people need this law passed,” said Susan.
“Some people can’t even hold a cup of coffee without their hands hurting. People
don’t realize that it can help with those kinds of things, and we’re not using
it to get stoned.”

Susan understands that marijuana use has long carried a stigma. When her husband
initially suggested she try cannabis for her pain, she resisted, remembering how
as a teenager she’d believed marijuana users tended to be high school dropouts.



Whenever Ken wears his “Legalize It” sweatshirt with the image of a marijuana
leaf, “it’s a conversation starter.”

He said many people tell him they want to see the same action.

“So, I tell them, ‘It’s up to you. You have the opportunity to make this
happen.’ I just don’t know why we can’t get the right people in power to make
medical marijuana legalized.”

From his experience dealing with the Legislature, Schmidt said he doubts that
medical marijuana will be legalized in Kansas this year.



“We’ve been on this for quite some time. What we’ve done is our resolution (from
the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature) asks for them to form a medical cannabis
advisory board to study the legalization of medical cannabis.”

Meantime, Susan and Ken say they’ll continue to import their own supply, legal
or not.

Contact Amy Geiszler-Jones at algj64@sbcglobal.net.

This story was originally published by The Active Age as part of the Wichita
Journalism Collaborative, a partnership of 11 media and community organizations,
including The Wichita Eagle. Contact Amy Geiszler-Jones at algj64@sbcglobal.net.




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