Medical marijuana activists from Kansas and Missouri met at the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain Saturday to rally for expanded medical marijuana legalization.
Activist groups Bleeding Kansas and Sensible Missouri organized the rally. Sensible Missouri founder Nick Raines says that lawmakers should allow citizens who are suffering from chronic illnesses the choice of medical marijuana.
"What are we really afraid of? Are we afraid that this plant is going to come up and kill everybody?" Raines said. "As long as we have personal responsibility, we can make this work."
Many of the protesters were family members of young children with severe epilepsy, which cannabinoid oil has been shown to ease in some cases. Sandi Yulich, who lives in Kansas and has a four-year-old daughter with epilepsy, said that she wants to at least have the option to try medical marijuana to see if it will help.
"My daughter is on four anti-seizure medications that are not stopping her seizures," Yulich said. "I don't have access to something that could help her."
Missouri lawmakers passed a CBD oil bill last year that allows for limited medical use for severe seizure disorders. A bill to do the same was introduced to the Kansas legislature this year, but has since stalled.
Missouri currently has an expanded medical marijuana bill working through the House, but it hasn't been scheduled for a full House vote yet.
Critics of medical marijuana say that legalizing it will lead to increased use by youth.
