Kansas police seize CBD oil made in Missouri, citing ‘zero tolerance’ anti-marijuana laws

MISSION, Kan. (Cannabist) — The owner of a Missouri hemp oil supplier said he’s making a special product line for Kansas after police seized the supply of a retailer because it contained trace amounts of THC.

CBD American Shaman owner Vince Sanders said he hopes the move will appease law enforcement. Sanders said he tests his products to make sure they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC, which is a fraction of the amount contained in recreational marijuana, The Kansas City Star reported.

Sanders’ herbal supplements are marketed and sold nationwide based on another chemical found in both marijuana and hemp: cannabidiol, or CBD. Powders, oils and lotions made from CBD don’t produce a high, but are promoted as providing health benefits.

Sanders believes the low-THC formulation makes his products legal. But police in Mission, Kansas, disagreed. They cited Kansas’ “zero tolerance” anti-marijuana laws in seizing his product last month from an alternative medicine store called Into the Mystic.

Here’s What You Can Do to Legalize Marijuana in Missouri

1. Become a volunteer petition gatherer.
New Approach Missouri, the group with the best shot of getting medical marijuana on 2018 ballots, is hosting an online training session next week. Join the event on Facebook to learn more.

2. Sign a petition to support medical marijuana.
Yes, many petitions are strictly symbolic (we’re looking at you, Change.org). But not in this case. The whole reason pot didn’t make the 2016 ballot is that petitioners failed to get enough signatures in St. Louis County. So if you’re a county resident, you might want to think about doing your part. New Approach Missouri has a long list of locations online where petitions are available for signing, complete with hours. Drop by, add your signature and rest assured you’re doing your part to make sure this initiative actually makes the ballot. Many local vape shops, Earthbound Brewing and Pets in the City are all on the list.

3. Actively seek out candidates who agree with you on this issue.
Maybe you still think Donald J. Trump is going to make America great again. But if marijuana is on the list of issues you care about, you may regret voting for a guy who picked Jeff Sessions to be U.S. attorney general. Even as public support for legalizing pot is at an all-time high (with 61 percent saying marijuana should be legal), Sessions has said he’d like to revisit the Obama-era policy of letting states follow their own compass on the issue. “Experts are telling me there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think,” says the attorney general. 

State university gives a big NO to pot leaf on T-shirt

COLUMBIA, Mo. (Cannabist) — The University of Missouri has denied a request from a student group that wants to put a marijuana leaf on a T-shirt next to the university’s name.

Leaders for the campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws are fighting the decision, saying it’s about First Amendment rights and fairness.

The Kansas City Star reports MU NORML wanted to raise money selling T-shirts with a marijuana leaf in the shape of an animal paw next to the campus skyline, another cannabis leaf and the name of the group and the university.

The group sought the university’s permission, but was rejected.

Cannabis oil use in Missouri off to slow start

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) —Efforts to make cannabis oil available to Missourians with a severe type of epilepsy are off to a slow start, mostly because neurologists are reluctant to certify patients to try a treatment that does not have federal approval.

In 2014, the Missouri Legislature legalized cannabis oil to treat an intractable type of epilepsy that can’t be controlled by medications. Darla Templeton, director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri and Kansas, estimates 18,000 Missourians could be eligible for the treatment.

So far, nine neurologists statewide are willing to allow patients to try the treatment and only 15 patients are certified to receive it. That has led the two groups with licenses to grow industrial hemp and extract the oil to scale back their plans. They say they are still determined to eventually provide the oil, perhaps by January.

The cannabis oil contains a chemical called cannabidiol, or CBD, and does not produce the high that users get from marijuana. Neurologists unwilling to certify patients for the treatment say it is not FDA approved and that more medical research is needed to determine proper dosing and possible long-term effects.

Group Petitioning to Decriminalize Cannabis Cultivation in Missouri

(420Times) Missouri chapters of the pro-legalization group the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) are busy collecting signatures for a petition to decriminalize the cultivation of cannabis in the city of Columbia.

The success of said petition would institute a new ordinance making the act of cultivating cannabis a civil offense, which would result in those that are caught having to pay a fine, as opposed to the current punishment of 5-15 years of prison time.

Medical Marijuana Initiative Filed In Missouri

(WeedBlog) On the morning of Thursday, October 8, an initiative to legalize access to cannabis for medical purposes with the approval of a physician was filed with the office of the Missouri Secretary of State in Jefferson City, Missouri. The petition was filed by Sheila Dundon, Registered Nurse and cancer survivor, on behalf of New Approach Missouri, a campaign committee supported by Show-Me Cannabis, among others, which was formed for the sole purpose of passing this initiative in 2016. Sheila was accompanied at the office of the Secretary of State by Tom Mundell, President of the Missouri Association of Veterans’ Organizations and past Commander of State VFW, Jack Cardetti, campaign consultant for New Approach Missouri, and myself.

After filing the petition, we all went to the Missouri State Capitol Building where we addressed a news conference at 10:00 a.m. in the capitol rotunda. Also participating in our press conference was Columbia cerebral palsy patient and citizen activist, Kathleen Weinschenk. I introduced each of these speakers after pointing out that during my 30 years of representing marijuana defendants in Missouri I have seen dozens of people who were clearly in need of marijuana for treatment of serious medical problems, but who were treated exactly like people accused of serious crimes.

Representatives of at least ten Missouri news organizations attended, including ABC and CBS television affiliates, Missouri Radio Network, National Public Radio, the Columbia Daily Tribune, The Saint Louis Post Dispatch and KMOX Radio from St. Louis. The Post-Dispatch, in particular, ran an excellent article on the filing, and the Associated Press story was published in dozens of newspapers around the state — and wellbeyond.

Missouri marijuana campaign hires top political consultant

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Supporters of medical marijuana in Missouri have hired a prominent political consultant to help with a campaign to put a proposal on the 2016 ballot.

New Approach Missouri’s new consultant Jack Cardetti met this week with marijuana advocates at an event at Busch Stadium.

Cardetti worked on Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and Secretary of State Jason Kander’s campaigns.

Cardetti says New Approach Missouri plans to hire people to collect enough voter signatures to get the medical marijuana proposal on next year’s ballot.

Medical and recreational marijuana proposals failed in 2012 and 2014 to collect enough signatures.