Health impact assessment examines potential health effects associated with proposed legislation in Kansas
Topeka, Kan. — During the 2015 legislative session, Kansas lawmakers considered three bills to legalize medical marijuana. In order to inform the discussion, the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) that examined how the legalization of medical marijuana could affect the health of Kansans.
Senate Bill 9 (and its House version, HB 2011) was proposed to legalize multiple forms of medical marijuana for various debilitating medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C and Crohn’s disease. Senate Bill 9 received a hearing, but a vote was not held in committee. House Bill 2282, which passed out of a House committee but did not receive a floor vote, included more restrictive provisions that allowed use of medical marijuana for seizure-related conditions, such as epilepsy. It’s likely this issue will again receive attention during the 2016 legislative session.
The purpose of the HIA was to examine how some provisions of this legislation might affect the health of Kansans, either positively or negatively. The HIA team reviewed existing literature, analyzed data from Kansas and other states and gathered stakeholder input from an array of groups including individuals with debilitating medical conditions, law enforcement, prevention organizations, school officials, academic researchers and public health professionals.
This study analyzed six factors related to the legalization of medical marijuana in Kansas including access to marijuana, consumption of marijuana, crime, driving under the influence of marijuana, accidental ingestion of marijuana and impact on vulnerable populations. All of these factors can impact health.
Findings from the study showed that the legalization of medical marijuana in Kansas may result in:
- Increased access to marijuana for certain groups,specifically, for individuals with qualifying medical conditions. Depending on the effectiveness of regulation and law enforcement, medical marijuana also could be sold to unauthorized adults and youth.
- Little to no impact on consumption of marijuana among the general population. However, there may be some increase in marijuana consumption among at-risk youth.
- In general, little to no impact on property and violent crime rates. Other states that legalized medical marijuana did not see statewide increases in crime rates. However, literature suggests that there may be a slight increase in crime in areas located in close proximity to dispensaries.
- Increase in driving under the influence of marijuana and related traffic accidents. Nationally, the number of marijuana-related traffic fatalities has increased both in states with and without medical marijuana laws, though the observed increase is possibly due to more frequent testing and reporting of marijuana-involved accidents.
- An increase in accidental exposure and specifically, among children, an increased risk of accidental ingestion. This slight increase prompted Colorado to establish child-proof packaging for marijuana.
To mitigate the potential negative health effects of the proposed legislation to legalize medical marijuana, the assessment includes recommendations for policymakers and relevant agencies to consider:
- Enacting regulations for child-proof packaging in order to prevent accidental ingestion of marijuana.
- Discouraging adults from using marijuana in the presence of children because of the influence of role modeling by adults on child and adolescent behavior.
- Educating the public on marijuana-related impairment,including riding with impaired drivers.
- Identifying evidence-based practices that keep health care providers accountable to the recommendations they make for medical marijuana such as Kansas Tracking and Reporting of Controlled Substances (K-TRACS).
“This health impact assessment provides evidence-based information on an important policy issue discussed during the 2015 Kansas Legislative session.” said Tatiana Lin, M.A., senior analyst and strategy team leader for KHI’s health impact assessment work.
In addition to this study, KHI provided neutral testimony in committee hearings about early findings of this HIA during the 2015 legislative session.