Kansas Senate panel OKs medical cannabis bill

? A Kansas Senate committee has endorsed a measure that would let doctors and physicians prescribe and dole out a non-intoxicating medicine derived from marijuana.

Senators initially were supposed to vote on a measure that would legalize the use of cannabis for certain medical conditions, The Wichita Eagle reported.

But an amendment stripped out that measure and replaced it with another that would allow medical professionals to prescribe and dispense “non-intoxicating cannabinoid medicine.”

The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee approved that bill Thursday. The measure now goes to the full Senate.

The bill the committee rejected would have allowed patients to have up to 12 plants and 6 ounces of cannabis, and it would allow “compassion centers” to distribute this “medicine.” The second bill, which they passed, would people to possess and use “non-intoxicating cannabinoid medicine” with a doctor’s recommendation. The term “non-intoxicating” is not defined.

Sen. Ty Masterson, the Andover Republican who proposed the amendment, called that action a “more appropriate first step” on marijuana use for medical purposes.

“There’s some evidence that shows that there’s medical value to that,” Masterson said. “This really sets apart those that are trying to get high versus those trying to get a medical benefit.”