Despite hemp being legalized on a federal scale, every state has the duty of implementing their own CBD laws and regulations. It gets confusing to understand how state laws lineup with federal regulations.
In the Sunflower State, legislation has been pretty fair-weathered, leaving many people to wonder “Is CBD legal in Kansas at all?”
Fortunately, Kansas is one of the states that has officially legalized hemp CBD products, alongside other cannabis-friendly states like Kentucky and Oregon. Unlike these states, though, Kansas imposes some pretty strict regulations that can make it difficult to access legal and effective CBD products within the state.
Before you buy, you should make sure that your CBD products meet state requirements.
Here’s what you need to know about Kansas CBD laws:
Table of Contents
Legal Concerns About CBD
What are the CBD laws in Kansas?
Is full spectrum CBD legal in Kansas?
Does Kansas have a CBD possession limit?
Can doctors prescribe CBD in Kansas?
Where to buy CBD in Kansas?
Can you buy CBD at 18 in Kansas?
Is CBD legal in all 50 states?
Resources
Disclaimer: We’re always working to stay informed on the latest CBD laws and research. However, state laws are subject to change and we advise that you do your own research to verify the information you find in this article. This is not intended as legal advice.
It’s true that CBD gained its federal legal status in 2018. The Hemp Farming Act effectively removed industrial hemp and its natural derivatives (like cannabinoids) from the Controlled Substances Act.
But there’s a catch, and it complicates things:
Legal CBD products must come from industrial hemp.
This classification is designated to hemp material that meets a strict set of standards. The most significant is that it contains less than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis. If CBD products are made from any cannabis strain that contains more than 0.3% THC, it is not a federally legal product.
That’s not all—
The final product must contain less than 0.3% THC, too.
That means that even if a brand starts with legal hemp material, they need to carry out careful manufacturing procedures to produce a legal end product. It’s possible for certain cannabinoids to be “concentrated” during the extraction process, leading to higher THC concentrations than in the original material. Proper manufacturing and careful testing need to be employed to avoid this issue.
Because there is very little regulation in the CBD industry, it’s important to evaluate a brand carefully before you buy. It can be hard to tell if a CBD product is made from a legal hemp source and meets the federal guidelines for legal hemp products. The best way to ensure that your CBD products are legal is by checking the third-party lab tests for cannabinoid potency.
Of course, these regulations only apply on a federal scale. You must also ensure that your products meet the standards laid out by federal guidelines and those set by your state.
As a result of the 2014 Farm Bill, Kansas drafted the Alternative Crop Research Act, a bill that enabled public universities to partner with local farmers to grow and research hemp material with no more than 0.3% THC. The bill, formally known as SB 263, wasn’t officially signed into law until 2018, causing the state to get a late start on hemp agriculture.
A month later, Governor Jeff Coyler also passed SB 282, a bill that revised the state's legal definition of “marijuana” to exclude CBD. This bill legalized CBD products across the state according to a Supplemental Note published alongside the new legislation.
Kansas legislation comes with one primary caveat--the legal definition of “marijuana” still includes products with any amount of THC. Only CBD products that contain no THC are legally accessible in the state of Kansas. This same law has been adopted by Idaho, making these two states the most CBD-restricted states in the nation.
In 2019, Governor Laura Kelly passed a series of bills aimed at furthering the state’s hemp-program and protecting CBD consumers. HB 2167 officially laid the framework for the creation of the Kansas Industrial Hemp Program. SB 28, passed in May of the same year, protects parents who use state-approved CBD products from child removal.
Still, in order for CBD products to be legal in the state of Kansas, they must be made according to the states’ own hemp program and must be free of even trace amounts of THC.
Unlike CBD-friendly states like Colorado and Illinois, Kansas has certain restrictions that prohibit access to full spectrum CBD products within the state. Unfortunately, any product containing even trace amounts of THC are considered illegal in Kansas, but these products are widely considered to be more effective. CBD isolate is available in the state.
To date, there are no possession limits for CBD products that meet legal guidelines. CBD products that contain any amount of THC may be considered “marijuana products” and are illegal in the state.
In Kansas, you do not need a prescription to access CBD products. In fact, doctors typically cannot “prescribe” CBD products that are sold over the counter, rather they may “recommend” them. You do need a prescription to access CBD-based pharmaceuticals.
Only one CBD product has been approved by the FDA to date. This product, GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex, is designed to treat rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Aside from this product (which comes with stringent usage guidelines), many doctors are still learning about the benefits of CBD. If you’re interested in the benefits of CBD, you may need to spark a conversation with your doctor.
Updates to Kansas legislation have expanded access to CBD across the state, so long as the product meets certain state requirements. That means that you might find CBD at supermarkets and convenience stores, but the state does very little to regulate the quality. In fact, most of the states focus is on restricting THC content, and not on ensuring quality formulations.
This lack of regulation can be risky.
Buying CBD online is a suitable option for most consumers. When you buy CBD online directly from the brand, you get better oversight of the brand’s manufacturing practices. Looking at the brand’s hemp source and lab testing procedures can help ensure that the CBD products you choose are clean, potent, and meet legal guidelines.
Buying CBD directly from a brand instead of from a third-party market may also be less costly since you won’t have to pay the extra fees that are often tacked on by the middle man. Of course, premium CBD can be expensive to manufacture, so you should also be wary of products that offer low-ball prices.
Finally, buying CBD online may be the best way to access many different types of CBD. The most common type of CBD product is an oil tincture, but you can find a variety of CBD edibles, topicals, and other specialty products when you shop online.
For more information on how to find high-quality CBD products, check out our CBD Buyer’s Guide.
The legal age to buy CBD is fuzzy, even when looking at federal regulations. In theory, CBD should be accessible to people of all ages, especially since it gained its popularity as a treatment for various childhood illnesses. Of course, some products may not be suitable for people of all ages, like smokable hemp flower or CBD vaporizers.
In Kansas, there are no statewide regulations regarding the legal age to buy CBD. Instead, these laws may vary by jurisdiction and are more heavily impacted by CBD vendors. Since the legal age for tobacco products has been raised to 21, many smoke shops may require users to be 21 to purchase CBD.
Many CBD brands allow customers who are 18 or older to order online and will ship legal CBD products to Kansas. The state has also passed legislation to prohibit child removal due to the use of state-approved CBD products.
Thanks to federal updates, CBD has the potential to be legal in every U.S. state. CBD is legal in Kansas on a limited basis, but every state has different regulations regarding the manufacture and sale of CBD. Click here to find out where CBD is legal.
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