Last verified: May 2026
Sen. Rob Olson (R-Olathe)
Sen. Rob Olson has been the most consequential Republican champion of medical-cannabis legislation in the Kansas Senate. As previous Chair of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, he held hearings on cannabis bills and worked toward floor votes. Senate President Masterson removed Olson from the chair role in what Olson alleges was retaliation. Olson’s April 26, 2024 motion to pull SB 135 out of committee for a full Senate vote failed 12 of 24 needed votes — only 10 Democrats and 2 retiring Republicans supported.
Former Rep. Blake Carpenter (R-Derby)
Former Rep. Blake Carpenter was the primary sponsor of HB 2184 ("Kansas Medical Marijuana Regulation Act") in 2021 — the bill that passed the Kansas House on a historic 79–42 floor vote on May 6, 2021, the first time the Kansas House had ever given medical cannabis a floor vote. The Senate killed it without a floor vote. Carpenter has since left the legislature.
Sen. Cindy Holscher (D-Overland Park)
Sen. Cindy Holscher is the most vocal Senate Democratic voice for cannabis legalization. From Overland Park (Johnson County), her constituents strongly support medical legalization in polling. As a Senate-D voice in a chamber dominated by Republican supermajorities, Holscher’s leadership shapes minority-party positioning on every recent cannabis bill.
Sen. Marci Francisco (D-Lawrence)
Sen. Marci Francisco represents Lawrence in the Senate. Lawrence’s Loophole and the broader Douglas County cannabis-policy reform framework operate within her district. Francisco has been a consistent Senate-D voice for reform.
Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D-Wichita)
Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau has been a Senate-D voice on cannabis policy and broader criminal-justice reform questions. Faust-Goudeau is also one of the longest-serving Black women in the Kansas Senate; her advocacy includes broader civil-rights and racial-disparity concerns alongside cannabis specifically.
Rep. Ford Carr (D-Wichita)
Rep. Ford Carr (D-Wichita) was the lead sponsor of HB 2678 and HB 2679 in 2026 — the most recent medical and adult-use cannabis bills introduced in the Kansas House. HB 2678 (Kansas Medical Cannabis Act) had 28 Democratic co-sponsors; HB 2679 (Adult Use Cannabis Regulation Act) had 19 co-sponsors. Both died in committee without hearings as of session adjournment April 11, 2026. Carr told KSNT shortly after introduction:
"Honestly what it’s going to take is for our midterm elections to remove some of those in the Republican party and replace those with Democrats who feel differently about cannabis. The Republican party is our hold up. That’s the obstacle."
Rep. Silas Miller (D-Wichita)
Rep. Silas Miller was the lead requestor of HB 2405 ("Adult Use Cannabis Regulation Act") in 2025. The bill was introduced March 10, 2025 but received no hearing. Miller’s Wichita-D voice complements Carr’s on cannabis reform.
Former Rep. Dennis "Boog" Highberger (D-Lawrence, ret. 2024)
Former Rep. Dennis "Boog" Highberger was a leading legalization advocate from Lawrence throughout his service. His retirement in 2024 reduced the active reform caucus by one of its most effective voices — particularly because Lawrence’s position as the most reform-friendly city in Kansas gave Highberger unusual political space to push hard on cannabis policy.
House Speaker Daniel Hawkins (R-Wichita)
House Speaker Daniel Hawkins (R-Wichita), in office since 2023. The 2021 79-42 medical bill was passed under prior Speaker Ron Ryckman. Hawkins has taken a "ball-in-Senate’s-court" position. In March 2026 he told KWCH:
"We will not take up marijuana in the house. The Senate can take it up, pass it, send it to us, we’ll pass it. But I’m not gonna take it up if the Senate won’t."
Hawkins’s position is structurally important because it shifts the burden to the Senate — where Masterson’s chokepoint operates. The result is that no chamber moves first.
Sen. Mike Thompson (R-Shawnee)
Sen. Mike Thompson is the current Chair of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. A former TV meteorologist, in the Senate since 2021, Thompson was appointed by Masterson after Olson’s removal. Thompson has consistently used the chair’s procedural power to keep medical cannabis bills bottled up. In February 2025 he said: "We’ve examined medical cannabis for quite some time, and the term medical cannabis is nothing but a marketing ploy."
The Senate-Republican Lockstep
The April 26, 2024 Olson motion failure (12 of 24 needed; only 10 Democrats + 2 retiring Republicans) revealed the depth of Senate Republican caucus support for the Masterson-Thompson cannabis-blocking strategy. Even moderate or pragmatic Republicans were unwilling to break publicly with Senate leadership on cannabis votes.
The Kansas-Specific Cast
Beyond the legislative cast, several other Kansas-specific voices shape cannabis policy:
- Gwen and Scott Hartley — parents of Claire and Lola Hartley; long-running advocates for medical reform.
- Cheryl Kumberg — President of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition.
- Erren Wright — President of the Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.
- Kelly Rippel — co-founder of Kansans for Hemp.
- R.E. "Tuck" Duncan — executive director of the Kansas Cannabis Industry Association.
- Norine Spears — cannabis-policy advocate; SB 294 (2025) was introduced at her request.
- Sharon Brett — Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas; lead on the Kansas Two-Step lawsuit and continued voice on Fourth Amendment cannabis enforcement issues.
The 2026 Election Implications
The November 3, 2026 election will reshape the cast. Several legislators are running for higher office:
- Sen. Ty Masterson (R) — running for governor.
- Various legislative seats up for re-election or open due to retirement.
Rep. Ford Carr’s framing — "honestly what it’s going to take is for our midterm elections to remove some of those in the Republican party and replace those with Democrats who feel differently about cannabis" — captures the structural reality. Without changes to the Senate Republican caucus composition, the chokepoint persists. See 2026 Election Watch page.
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Related on this site: Kansas Cannabis Politics, Senate President Ty Masterson, Kansas Has No Ballot Initiative Process.