Kansas AG candidates split on medical marijuana, criticize Wichita decriminalization

Kansas attorney general candidates Kris Kobach and Chris Mann disagree on most issues, but marijuana decriminalization in the state’s largest city isn’t one of them.

Both candidates said they disagree with the Wichita City Council’s recent decision to stop prosecuting marijuana cases in municipal court. Wichita charges 750 to 850 people with marijuana possession cases a year and another 600 to 700 for possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

An Eagle analysis of city data found that Black residents are nearly nine times more likely to be charged with marijuana crimes in municipal court than non-Hispanic white people. Starting Friday, the city will no longer charge marijuana cases, leaving prosecution decisions to the Sedgwick County district attorney.

Kobach, a Lecompton Republican, said he supports keeping marijuana illegal in Kansas and opposes any efforts to decriminalize, including in Wichita.

“It sends a message that, well, marijuana is OK,” Kobach said. “In our state, I don’t think that’s the message I want to send to my kids.”

Mann, a Lawrence Democrat, said state lawmakers should drive any changes to marijuana law, not cities.

“I don’t think that a patchwork of local rules is going to be helpful because it just moves the problem from municipal court to district court,” Mann said. “I think that we need to have a statewide solution if there’s going to be one.”

The two northeast Kansas natives met for their first one-on-one forum hosted by the Wichita Metro Crime Commission on Thursday. As the top law enforcement official in the state, the Kansas attorney general often offers opinions on state law to local governments and can challenge cities in court. The winner of the August election could also be an influential force on marijuana policy discussion at the statehouse.

Mann’s hometown has the most marijuana-friendly law enforcement in Kansas. In 2019, Lawrence decreased marijuana penalties to a $1 fine and the Douglas County district attorney announced his office would no longer file simple marijuana possession cases.

His stand against Wichita’s decriminalization has drawn criticism from Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple, a former Democratic state representative.

“Y’all, who is (Chris Mann) & why is he against Wichita using local control to modernize our city ordinances by implementing data driven harm reduction strategies? . . . Minor THC possession shouldn’t be an economic death sentence,” Whipple wrote in a Sept. 12 tweet.

The two candidates split on medical marijuana.

“I’m a proponent of well-regulated medical marijuana at the state level,” Mann said. “The Legislature hasn’t decided to do that yet, but if they were to decide to do that, we need to put up some safeguards. We need to make sure that we’re protecting vulnerable populations, protecting our children. We need to have more drug addiction help, and we need money to go to law enforcement.”

Kobach said he opposes medical marijuana because “then you end up legalizing something that becomes a Pandora’s box because no state that has a law that allows medical marijuana has been able to confine it to purely medical cases. It automatically gets abused.”

Kobach acknowledged that some marijuana derivatives, such as THC pills and CBD oil, may have some medical necessity.

“You can gain the medical benefits without actually having the full marijuana plant available to people,” Kobach said.