Retired Judge Favors Medical Marijuana in Kansas

By Michael Hooper

Kansas is moving slowly toward the creation of a medical marijuana program after examining programs in Missouri, Oklahoma and Colorado.

Rep. John Barker, a retired judge from Abilene, has been working on a bill that would create the Kansas Medical Marijuana Regulation Act and the Kansas Medical Marijuana Regulation Program.

                                         Rep. John Barker

For the very first time, a medical marijuana bill made it out of committee in the Legislature on March 29. The Kansas House Federal and State Affairs Committee approved the bill 13-8 sending it to the house for debate. That bill has been folded into House Sub for SB158 and was referred back to committee.

"This is the second year we have introduced this bill," said Barker, chairman of the Committee on Federal and State Affairs. "We had a hearing and we worked on the bill and then moved it to the floor of the House. The speaker sent it back to committee."

The committee's bill, modeled after the Ohio medical marijuana program, authorizes doctors to prescribe cannabis to patients suffering from one of 20 conditions, including AIDs, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and PTSD.

Barker described his committee members as very conservative people; debate on the bill in March was contentious. Law enforcement has come out against it, but some doctors support it. Advocates said it would provide much needed relief to Kansans suffering from various ailments, such as epilepsy or chronic pain.

Barker said he plans to work on the bill with committee members, and discuss possible amendments or changes.

"We will get through it," Barker said in an interview with the author on April 15, 2021.

The Legislature returns from spring break on May 3.

Barker anticipates the Committee on Federal and State Affairs would approve the medical marijuana bill and send it back to the House floor. He believes there is 70 votes in the House to approve it. If that happens, he said, the bill would either be dead at the Senate or go to a conference committee.

If the bill is approved by the Senate, Barker said Gov. Laura Kelly will sign it.

Thirty-six states have approved some form of medical cannabis legalization, but it is still illegal at the federal level, Barker said. He expects Congress to move cannabis from a Schedule 1 to Schedule III or IV for medicinal usage.

Barker said his committee looked at cannabis programs in Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri. Missouri is full of lawsuits now because of the cap on the number of medical marijuana licenses. Barker favors no cap on licenses in Kansas.

Let the free market determine the number of medical marijuana distributors in Kansas, he said.

"I'm a conservative. I believe in the free market system," Barker said. "Some businesses will fail, some will succeed."

Barker said in Maryland, a medical cannabis license is more than $1 million and cannabis is very expensive. He said competition will make the cannabis market more competitive, so the average guy can get a month's prescription at a reasonable price. He described Oklahoma's medical marijuana program as the wild west.

"We want a more structured program in Kansas," Barker said.

House Sub for SB158 creates a medical board under the Kansas Health and Environment. Doctors would go through training to issue prescriptions of medical marijuana. Pharmacists would have a role in it, Barker said.

The state Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) would be in charge of enforcing regulations in the cannabis bill.

Gov. Kelly had proposed a medical marijuana program that would generate tax revenue to support Medicaid expansion. But Kelly Rippel, an independent cannabis consultant in Topeka, said that idea did not go over well in the Legislature.

House Sub for SB158 does not address decriminalization of cannabis laws in Kansas, but Barker believes this should be addressed too. Law enforcement should not have to worry about someone with a couple of marijuana cigarettes, he said.

Legalization has been slow to come to Kansas. 

"We're in a time of transition, said Rippel, an appointed member of the Industrial Hemp Advisory Board under the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

House Sub for SB158 would specify that only the following forms of medical marijuana may be dispensed,"oils; tinctures; plant material; edibles; and patches."

The bill would "prohibit the smoking, combustion, or vaporization of medical marijuana; any forms or methods of using medical marijuana that are considered attractive to children; and the dispensing of medical marijuana from a vending machine or through electronic commerce."

While the bill may appear to prohibit "smoking medical marijuana," Rippel noted that the bill does allow "plant material" to be sold.

Rippel also said the Commercial Industrial Hemp Act of Kansas needs modified to match the USDA Final Hemp Rule. It may be a slow process, but he maintains there is hope on the horizon. A recent amendment to HB2244, which passed both chambers in the statehouse, is on its way to Governor Kelly's desk. This new law would allow the sale of items with hemp seed and CBD products that contain the federally legal amount of 3% THC.

Medical cannabis typically has 10% to 35% THC. The Barker bill has a cap of 35% THC levels in Kansas.

Michael Hooper is a longtime journalist in Kansas and Nebraska. His blog is thoughtfulinvestors.blogspot.com

San Diego Firm Building New Pet Food Plant Near Topeka, Will Create 40 Jobs

By Michael Hooper

The Honest Kitchen, of San Diego, Calif., is building a new production plant that will employ 40 people near Topeka.

The Honest Kitchen will be manufacturing its Whole Food Clusters kibble alternative, human-grade pet foods with a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility near Topeka, the company said in a press release issued on March 23. The facility is set to open in the third quarter of 2021, the company said.

“This new facility, once combined with our manufacturing operation on the West Coast, will represent a huge step forward in increasing our overall manufacturing capacity for Whole Food Clusters,” Nate Kredich, chief operating officer of The Honest Kitchen, said in the press release. “We are proud not only of the new jobs that this facility will create in Shawnee County, but also that nearly all of our equipment will be sourced from US suppliers.”

The 100,000-square-foot facility is expected to add 40 new jobs in the Topeka area.

The Topeka area was strategically chosen for its proximity to quality raw ingredient suppliers and because it fosters improved distribution capabilities, reducing transit time to key Midwest and East Coast markets, the company said.

“In a short amount of time, Whole Food Clusters has exceeded all sales and velocity expectations,” added Michael Greenwell, chief executive officer of The Honest Kitchen. “We’re excited to continue the human-grade pet food momentum and meet the growing demand for this revolutionary product. This expansion will allow us to not only scale as needed but accelerate additional innovations within the line.”

The Whole Food Clusters line first launched in 2019 and has recently expanded to include a full assortment of grain-free, whole-grain, puppy and small-breed recipes. The human-grade dog food is produced through The Honest Kitchen’s proprietary MadeHonest™ method, in which each cluster is slow-roasted and gently dehydrated. This process is intended to preserve nutrients and product attributes that are typically lost through high-heat extrusion.

Barbara Stapleton, VP of Business Retention and Expansion at Greater Topeka Partnership, said "we are still operating under the project code name...Project Central."

The company said it plans to spend $9.5 million in facility improvements and equipment and create 50 jobs over the next five years, Stapleton said. 

On Dec. 9, 2020, the Joint Economic Development Organization approved $284,000 in incentives for Project Central.

Stapleton declined to disclose the address of the new pet food plant.

"This is great for Topeka and the Animal Health Corridor," Stapleton said, referring to the KC Animal Health Corridor from Manhattan, Kan., to Columbia, Mo. The Honest Kitchen brings good jobs to Topeka. This will grow opportunities for people who live here or choose to move here, she said.

The Honest Kitchen was founded by Lucy Postins in 2002 in San Diego, with a mission to help as many pets as possible get on the road to good health through good food. They produce a full line of human-grade, complete and balanced foods for pets including dry, dehydrated and wet foods as well as treats, toppers, hydration boosters and a best-selling digestive supplement. The Honest Kitchen says it was the first-ever human-grade pet food, meaning the finished product meets human-food production standards (unlike conventional pet food, which is feed grade). Each Honest Kitchen product is made with uncompromising quality and safety standards by a company of pet lovers. For more information, please visit www.thehonestkitchen.com.

Multiple pet food companies are located in the Topeka area, including Hill's Pet Nutrition. JM Smucker owns Big Heart Pet Brands in Topeka and Lawrence, purchased in 2015. Mars Petcare operates in Kansas City. Crosswind Industries, purchased by ADM for $85 million four years ago, is located in Sabetha, Kan. Simmons Pet Food is located in Emporia. Alphia, formerly called CJ Foods, is based in Bern, Kan.

These pet food companies are part of the KC Animal Health Corridor which includes more than 300 companies and organizations involved in animal health and nutrition. The corridor, founded in 2006, is anchored by veterinary medicine colleges at Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.

A substantial amount of the pet food consumed in the United States comes from this region in the Middle of the United States.

Honest Kitchen founder Lucy Postins started her company with $7,000, and a beach cottage kitchen. She created "the world’s first human grade pet food company," the company says here. "Seventeen years later, our products are distributed in over 5,000 pet supply stores internationally, with a staff of over 50 employees (and probably close to 50 co-woofers).

"I decided to start my own pet food company whilst standing in my kitchen, after marveling at the amazing impact that a healthy, whole-food diet could have on my own dog’s health," she said. "I’d been trying to address my Rhodesian Ridgeback’s chronic ear infections with vet prescribed treatments but nothing was really bringing about a long term cure. So I turned to food as a potential ‘medicine’ and began feeding him my own home prepared diet. Originally, The Honest Kitchen was just going to be a local direct-to-consumer business but it turned out the products really spoke for themselves and sales started to grow by word of mouth when people began to see the results in their pets’ health, so it gradually morphed into a larger, nationally distributed brand."

In 2015, The Honest Kitchen's revenue was $30 million. That number has grown between 35% to 45% annually, she said in this 2019 article in the San Diego Business Journal.

It's likely the company's revenue is now around $100 million, said David Tangeman, accountant.

The Honest Kitchen received minority venture capital investment from two funds in 2011. One is the Alliance Consumer Growth Fund and the other is White Road Investments, started by Gary Erickson who was the founder of Cliff Bar & Co.