Topeka ? The Kansas House on Monday rejected a proposal that would have allowed highly controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The proposal, by Rep. Cindy Holscher, D-Olathe, failed, 54-69 after more than an hour of debate.

It was offered as an amendment to a bill that would legalize the production and sale of certain hemp-based products such as oils, pills, powders and lotions, as long as they contain no THC, the psychologically active ingredient in marijuana.

Supporters of that bill argued that hemp extracts can be effective in treating a number of medical conditions, primarily seizure disorders.

Holscher, however, argued that full-strength marijuana can have additional benefits for seizure disorders as well as treating the nausea often associated with chemotherapy. She said Kansas physicians and their patients should have the option of using it.

“We have many, many people who need access to medical marijuana, kids, best friends and others,” Holscher said.

The amendment was essentially the contents of House Bill 2348, known as the Kansas Safe Access Act, which was introduced in February 2017 and was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee, where it has languished without any hearings ever being held.

It would allow dispensing of marijuana pursuant to a prescription through licensed, regulated “compassion centers.” Those centers would be allowed to dispense marijuana only to patients holding an identification card certifying that they are eligible to use medical marijuana.

During debate, House members on both sides of the issue gave impassioned speeches about people they have known who either did benefit or could have benefited if they’d been allowed to use medical marijuana.

Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, talked about growing up in a family with seven children and having to share a bed with a brother who suffers from epilepsy.

“My nights were always interrupted by his seizures,” he said. “My job as his brother was to make sure he didn’t swallow his tongue and suffocate. This is what it’s like to have a child who suffers from epilepsy, for those of you who haven’t had personal experience.”

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, also spoke of a woman he once knew who would travel to Colorado, where even recreational marijuana is legal, to help her treat the pain and discomfort she experienced being treated for ovarian cancer.

“And it helped. It subsided her pain for a little bit,” Waymaster said. “But when she came back, of course, the pain came back. And on Aug. 12, 2012, she passed away at the age of 31.”

Still, Waymaster voted against the amendment, even though he said he would support a proposal that goes through the regular process of committee hearings.

“I don’t think this is the right time to bring this forward,” he said. “I know there is a benefit to it. I saw what it did for her. (But) a 116-page amendment is not the right process.”

A number of others who voted against the amendment said they, too, would support such a proposal, if it goes through the process of committee hearings and expert testimony.

“I think bringing an amendment to the floor of this size that none of us can look and see and evaluate is very serious and could open the door for absolute chaos on the streets of Kansas,” said Rep. John Wheeler, R-Garden City, who added that in many other states, legalizing medical marijuana was just a first step toward legalizing recreational pot.

But Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson, said he believes it’s only a matter of time before medical marijuana is legal in Kansas.

“Cannabis has a long history of being a sort of bogeyman,” he said “Its history is frankly steeped in paranoia and racism. I think that we know that at some point medical marijuana will be legal in Kansas. The trends definitely show us it’s moving in that direction.

All four House members from Lawrence voted in favor of the amendment: Democratic Reps. Barbara Ballard, Boog Highberger, Eileen Horn and Republican Tom Sloan. Rep. Jim Karleskint, R-Tonganoxie, voted against it.

The underlying bill, Senate Bill 282, advanced toward final action on a voice vote. In addition to legalizing certain hemp-based products known as cannabidiol, it also would tighten controls on dispensing certain opioid medications.

Final passage of the bill, which is expected Tuesday, would send it back to the Senate, which did not include the provision dealing with hemp products in its bill.