Kansas Cannabis Advocacy & Legal Defense — ACLU, NORML, MPP, KSCC, Joseph Hollander & Craft

Last verified: May 2026

Advocacy Organizations

ACLU of Kansas

• Website: aclukansas.org
• Legal Director: Sharon Brett.
• Functions: Civil-liberties focus, including the Kansas Two-Step lawsuit and broader Fourth Amendment cannabis-enforcement litigation. Continues to caution Colorado-plated drivers about KHP interdiction.

Kansans for Hemp

Kelly Rippel, co-founder. Hemp-industry advocacy and reform. Active on PL 119-37 federal hemp cliff issues and Kansas state-level legislation that has attempted to ban hemp-derived intoxicants.

Kansas Cannabis Coalition

President Cheryl Kumberg. Statewide cannabis-policy advocacy organization. SB 294 (2025) was introduced at the request of Norine Spears on behalf of Kansas Cannabis Coalition, the Cannabis Justice Coalition, and the Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.

Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce

President Erren Wright. Hemp-focused industry advocacy.

Kansas Cannabis Industry Association

R.E. "Tuck" Duncan, executive director. Industry advocacy.

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

mpp.org/states/kansas — National organization tracking Kansas legislation. Has supported HB 2184 (2021), HB 2678/HB 2679 (2026), and the broader medical-cannabis reform agenda.

NORML — Kansas Chapter

Kansas chapter and laws page (norml.org/laws/kansas-penalties-2). Local advocacy and legal-defense referrals.

Legal Defense Counsel

Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC

Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Overland Park — substantial Kansas drug-defense practice. Authored the most-cited "Wichita Weed Decriminalization" explainer.

McLane Law Office (DUIKC.com)

Kansas City–area DUI defense.

Kitchin Law Firm

Kansas/Missouri border drug defense.

Grissom Miller Law Firm

Kansas City, Missouri. Barry Grissom — former U.S. Attorney for Kansas. Lead counsel in the December 15, 2025 Hanging Leaf injunction filing in McPherson County District Court. Substantial federal-prosecutor expertise on Fourth Amendment and federal-state-law-interaction questions.

ACLU of Kansas Cooperating Attorneys Network

Referrals for civil rights / Fourth Amendment cases. Particularly relevant for cases involving KHP interdiction or federal Fourth Amendment claims.

Kansas Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service

1-800-928-3111. Referrals for general legal matters.

The Hartley Family Voice

Gwen and Scott Hartley — parents of Claire and Lola Hartley — are long-running advocates for medical cannabis reform in Kansas. Their voice has been a recurring presence in committee testimony, legislative hearings (when bills get hearings), and Kansas media coverage. The family’s framing — that Lola’s right to access medication that controls her seizures shouldn’t depend on whether Kansas’s Senate President allows a vote — has been particularly compelling for moderate Republicans considering the policy.

Industry Voices

• Brett Harris, owner of Kannabliss (Wichita) — one of the most public industry voices on Kansas hemp policy.
• Mike Ballinger, owner of Hanging Leaf (McPherson) — named plaintiff in the December 2025 injunction filing against the October 2025 raid.

Where to Direct Reform Energy

Because Kansas has no citizen-initiative process, reform advocacy in Kansas flows to:

• Lobbying the Kansas Legislature — the principal pathway to any state-level reform. The 2027 session is the next inflection point.
• Local-ordinance and DA-decline work — expanding the Lawrence/Wichita/KCK reform patchwork.
• 2026 election support — particularly for legislative candidates willing to break with Senate Republican leadership on cannabis votes, and for gubernatorial candidates likely to advocate reform.
• Federal-cliff response — engagement with H.R. 6209 (Mace), H.R. 7010, S. 3686 federal repeal/delay legislation.
• Litigation support — backing the Hanging Leaf and Indy Vapes lawsuits as Fourth Amendment / federal-preemption cases that could constrain future state-level enforcement.

How to Get Legal Help

• For arrest situations: Joseph, Hollander & Craft; McLane Law Office; Kitchin Law Firm; or any Kansas criminal-defense attorney with cannabis-policy experience.
• For civil-rights and Fourth Amendment cases: ACLU of Kansas; Grissom Miller Law Firm; ACLU Cooperating Attorneys Network.
• For workers’ comp / employment matters: Employment-law attorneys with familiarity in K.S.A. § 44-501 cases.
• For commercial driver’s license / FMCSA Clearinghouse cases: Trucking-law specialists.
• For federal-employment / clearance matters: Federal employment attorneys with security-clearance experience.

Kansas Public Defender Resources

For indigent defense, Kansas operates a Public Defender system through the Kansas Board of Indigents’ Defense Services. Defendants without resources to retain private counsel may qualify for appointed counsel.

Related on this site: Kansas Cannabis Official Sources, Send a Message, Contact CannabisKansas.org.