Kansas Governor Signs Bill to Allow Patients to Use FDA-Approved, Cannabis-Derived Medication

Legislation to legalize medical cannabis stalled this year in Kansas, but Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill into law last week that allows patients to use cannabis-derived medication that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—even if not much of this medication currently exists.

Kelly signed House Bill 2540 into law June 2 to amend the definition of “marijuana” in Kansas’ Uniform Controlled Substances Act to exempt FDA-approved drugs that contain cannabis compounds, according to Forbes.

As the news outlet points out, Epidiolex remains one of the only cannabis-derived medications that has been approved by the FDA to treat seizure disorders in children.

Marinol is also FDA-approved, Forbes reported, but it contains a synthetic form of THC.

H.B. 2540 also updates the Kansas’ criminal code to reflect the legality of CBD under federal law, according to the news outlet.

The legislation aimed to take a proactive approach to new pharmaceutical medication that contains THC derived from cannabis to treat muscle spasticity stemming from multiple sclerosis, which is expected to receive FDA approval by 2023, Forbes reported.

“One key element of this legislation is the advance scheduling of any FDA-approved drug containing THC or other cannabinoids,” Kansas Board of Pharmacy Executive Secretary Alexandra Blasi told the news outlet in a statement about H.B. 2540. “There are a number of products currently in clinical trials anticipated to be submitted for FDA approval in the coming months and years.”

Kansas remains one of a handful of states with no legal medical or adult-use cannabis program.

In 2019, lawmakers passed “Claire and Lola’s Law,” which allows patients to access CBD products containing up to 5% THC, Forbes reported. That law aimed to prevent children from being removed from their homes based on their parents administering CBD to them, according to the news outlet.

This year saw multiple legislative efforts to legalize medical cannabis in Kansas, including a House-passed bill that failed to gain traction in the Senate and a Senate bill introduced in March that died at the end of this year’s legislative session.