Kansas would permit licensed cannabis sales to adults 21 and older

Kansas would license cannabis businesses and permit sales to adults age 21 or older. Licensed businesses would grow, make, test, transport, or sell cannabis and operate places for adult use. Property owners and employers could ban cannabis on their property; federal land would remain excluded. Stores would generally limit each transaction to one ounce or its equivalent. Certain nonedible products that do not cause a high could exceed that amount under state limits. Businesses and workers would need licenses, background checks, and fees. A felony conviction or guilty plea within the preceding three years would block a business or worker license. Products would need testing and labels. Businesses could not sell to people under 21 or advertise to appeal to minors. Delivery would require a permit and an ID check. Deliveries could go only to private homes, excluding schools, college campuses, and public property, once daily per person or home within state quantity limits. The act would take effect upon publication in the statute book. Revenue officials would have to adopt rules on or before July 1, 2026. Sections 1–44 would expire on July 1, 2035.

Licensed cannabis sellers would collect an 8% tax from buyers and send it to the state. The tax would cover cannabis and cannabis products sold by licensed stores and licensed businesses that sell cannabis for use on or off their premises. Revenue would be divided among low-cost housing (40%), child care (15%), mental health (10%), and the state general fund (10%). The remaining shares would support economic development (10%) and property tax rebates (15%) in areas immediately surrounding licensed sellers. Spending from the cannabis business regulation fund would require legislative spending approval. The tax provisions would take effect upon publication in the statute book.

People could ask courts to seal eligible cannabis records from public view without a filing fee. The process would cover eligible Kansas state and local cannabis arrests, charges, and convictions. Sealing would remove public access to records rather than erase every copy. The fee-free process would cover conduct made legal or no longer treated as a crime after the arrest, charge, or conviction. Prosecutors would have to show why a record is ineligible. Courts could also approve sealing in other cases when justice calls for it. Unrelated charges would not be cleared through the cannabis provision. Agencies could retain nonpublic records. Published court opinions would keep the person's name, and some transcripts involving other defendants could retain references. People imprisoned solely for convictions cleared under the act would be released upon an order. Cleared convictions would not provide grounds for compensation for time served. Eligible people could apply at any time once the act took effect. Corrections officials would review eligible convictions and notify the prisoner review board within 180 days for possible pardon recommendations.

Banks and other covered financial institutions would receive protection from certain Kansas criminal charges for serving compliant cannabis businesses. Covered institutions would include regulated banks and credit unions with an office in Kansas. The protection would apply only to state criminal law. The cannabis business would need a license and would have to follow the cannabis act and Kansas tax laws. Protection would cover Kansas crimes based on providing financial services to a business that possesses, delivers, or manufactures cannabis. Financial institutions could request license, ownership, and compliance information from the state. They would have to keep that information confidential, with exceptions allowed by other laws. The financial-service protections would take effect upon publication in the statute book and fall within the provisions expiring July 1, 2035.