The Democratic front-runner for governor of Kansas is calling for the legalization of medical and adult cannabis in the state. In one video posted on Facebook from the parking lot of a dispensary in Missouri — just across the state line from her Johnson County home, state Sen. Cindy Holscher noted that the place was “full of Kansas license plates.”

“That’s a lot of Kansas tax dollars going straight into Missouri’s pocket. Most Kansas voters think marijuana should be legal in our state, but because it’s not Kansas, we buy it out of state and we miss the opportunity to raise more money for schools and public services.” — Holscher in a video posted to Facebook

Holscher noted that last year Missouri collected $255 million in tax dollars from cannabis sales in the state.

“This is real money that can make a big difference for Kansans,” Holscher said in the video. “Legalization means we will build an industry in Kansas of farmers and small businesses and keep our tax dollars in the state to benefit our schools.”

Holscher added that legalizing cannabis is “common sense” and that adults should be allowed to consume cannabis “safely and responsibly”.

or last survey by Change Research, commissioned by Civic Clarity, which operates the Capitol Bee news entity, found Holscher with 37% support among poll respondents, while Johnson County state Sen. Ethan Corson received 10% support and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog at 7%.

or Kansas Speaks Poll published in February found that 70% of Kansans support the legalization of medical cannabis, while 60% support adult-use reforms.

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The New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) last week launched its Center of Excellence for Cannabis Care and Health Equity.

The center was first announced in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2026 State of the State address. The state’s website describes the center as educating “healthcare providers and public health professionals about cannabis so they can better serve patients and support systems that protect and promote health.”

The University at Albany and Albany Medical Center are supporting the initiative. SUNY Upstate Medical University, Stony Brook Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, CUNY School of Public Health and the New York State Office of Mental Health are also involved in the center.

In a statement, John Kagia, executive director of OCM, said that when the state legalized cannabis for adult use, it “chose a different path than many other states from the beginning.”

“Our approach was more than creating a new market. It has always been about building a framework rooted in public health, safety, education and equity.” – Kagia in one press release

The agency also issued a request for proposals from qualified persons and/or entities to design, develop and deliver asynchronous online training on the topics of the endocannabinoid system, medical cannabis, cannabis science, cannabis consumer health and cannabis health equity. The training is intended for physicians and dispensary employees who are involved or seeking to become involved in the state’s medical cannabis program, as well as community-based organizations, state and local officials, and other individuals or organizations interested in medical cannabis. Applications for those proposals were due in May.

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The DEA’s long-awaited administrative hearing on moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III opened this week with the agency making it clear that it supports the move, Cannabis Business Times reports.

According to the report, DEA attorney James Schwartz told the court that the government would call only two witnesses, a scientist and a doctor, to support the proposed rule.

At the start of the hearings, the fact that no pro-rescheduling parties were invited prompted some advocates to question whether the agency was setting the table against its own rules, while others read it as complying with a Trump directive to move the rule quickly.

Writing in one op-ed for Marijuana Moment, Cat Packer of the Drug Policy Alliance offered a firsthand account detailing this point: her organization asked to participate as an interested party and was denied, along with requests from groups including NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, the Latino Cannabis Alliance, the Law Enforcement Center for Law Advocacy, Law Prevention, the Party of Rebolli & Politics, Women and Supernova Students for Sensitive Drug Policies. Packer wrote that the seven parties the DEA has designated to participate all have one thing in common: Each of them opposes reprogramming. Access to the hearing was also limited, with no live stream, video stream or public audio feed.

DEA attorney Schwartz reportedly stressed that the hearing is not about recreational use or legalization, but rather whether cannabis has a “currently accepted medical use.” Under the CSA’s regulatory framework, if cannabis has even one accepted medical use, it cannot remain in Schedule I. The government’s first witness, FDA scientist Dominic Chiapperino, testified that his team’s review supports placing cannabis in Schedule III. A second government witness, Dr. Corey Burchman, testified about his clinical experience helping patients transition from opioids to cannabis, and discussed the relative risks of each.

The federal effort to reclassify cannabis began under the Biden administration in the year 2023 following an HHS finding, cannabis has accepted medical use for some conditions. After numerous delays, the Trump administration sped up the process with an executive order directing the agency to continue the proceedings. The hearing began on June 29 and is scheduled to run as a two-week proceeding, with testimony and cross-examination continuing through mid-July and ending no later than July 15.

Although moving cannabis to Schedule III could remove some of the financial hurdles legal cannabis brands currently face, it would not federally legalize cannabis, create a legal market, or provide any relief to people currently incarcerated for cannabis convictions. Reprogramming also won’t end federal criminalization, resolve the conflict between federal and state law, or build the comprehensive regulatory framework the country needs: Congress will have to address these questions head-on for any meaningful change to occur.

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