Advisory Council

Barry Grissom

Representing individuals who have been injured or taken advantage of has been a passion for Barry Grissom. He hates bullies. Since 1983 he has dedicated his professional career to assisting those who need legal help. After twenty-seven years of pursuing justice for individuals he was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in August 2010. During his time as U.S. Attorney, he was selected to serve on the Attorney General Advisory Committee and the Blue Ribbon Panel where he, along with other U.S. Attorneys and high ranking officials, focused on the shifting of prosecutorial priorities and their effects on violent crime while addressing the issue of over-incarceration.
During his tenure, Grissom made civil rights enforcement and community outreach top priorities. Among other accomplishments, Grissom:
· Founded the Kansas Civil Rights Symposium, bringing law enforcement officers and civil rights advocates from across Kansas together annually for a day-long conference
· Founded the District’s first Human Trafficking Working Group. The group’s mission was to coordinate the work of local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as nonprofit agencies and victim service providers, to fight human trafficking.
· Directed the District’s Project Safe Neighborhood program, targeting the federal prosecution of felons who unlawfully possessed firearms.
· Oversaw the District’s Project Safe Childhood program, targeting child sex offenders for long federal prison sentences.
Since leaving the DOJ in 2016, he has focused his efforts on Criminal Justice Reform including lobbying for NORML. As part of that effort, he has written and spoken on the necessity of changing laws that relate to cannabis prohibition.

Kelly Rippel

Kelly Rippel has advocated for the open access of information and utilization of cannabis since the 1990s when he found out his dad participated in cannabis research at America's first land grant school, Kansas State University. After co-founding Kansans for Hemp and helping in the legalization movement in 2018, he was appointed to the industrial hemp research advisory board under the Kansas Department of Agriculture and now serves in his third term. Kelly represented Kansas and the United States at the World Hemp Congress in Slovenia, and is founding president of Planted Association of Kansas. He works full-time as a crop adjuster with Zurich North America / Rural Community Insurance Services in the state's eastern territory.

George Hannah

George Hanna is a husband of 30+ years, father and grandfather. As a child and “Throwaway Teen” George has risen to be a KSU Alumni and Veteran of the US Navy Submarine Force and very politically active professional. George says, “Because I have lived in a box under a construction trailer, stealing for food, I am able to be much more empathetic and see from the perspectives of others.” It is from that perspective that he has stood successfully opposing the West Bro Baptist Church, staffed or volunteered on numerous congressional campaign, National Presidential Delegate and eventually holding elected office himself. George has been a labor organizer, union president and has held positions on the State Board of Directors on behalf of Kansas Association of Public Employees. Additionally, as a disabled Veteran himself, George is the former Chair of the Veterans & Military Families Caucus and continues to fight for Kansas Veterans. On April 12th, the then Governor Sam Brownback signed HB 2174, a bill originally authored by George on behalf of all disabled Veterans in Kansas, into law.
Today George continues to advocate and lobby on behalf of those disabled seeking to improve their quality of life through the safe access of cannabis. George, current Co-Director of Kansas NORML, continues to aggressively fight for criminal justice reforms to someday end the prejudicial enforcement surrounding cannabis.

Sarah Stephens

Sarah Stephens is a third year hemp producer, CEO of Midwest Hemp Technology and President of the Kansas Hemp Consortium.  Assembling an experienced team, learning from available research and committing to industrial hemp in the region, Sarah applied for and was awarded a hemp research grant this growing season. She secured several varieties of industrial hemp to study yields across more than 100 acres.  An innovator in business, Sarah leads with an entrepreneur's heart. Working with farmers and processors across the state, she enthusiastically supports the growth of industrial hemp in Kansas. 

While earning a Master of Public Affairs degree from Wichita State University’s Hugo Wall School, Sarah worked in politics. She managed campaigns for governor, mayor and state representative. Here, she learned to prefer the parameters of entrepreneurship. Sarah founded Safe Riders, Inc. in 2003 at the age of 25—the service drove intoxicated individuals home in their own vehicle. The business was progressive and forward thinking. It solved a very real problem that she believed could be positively affected by providing a reliable service solution. Sarah sold the business in 2010 and stayed home with her growing family for a year before securing a position with Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers as Director of Public Affairs. Sarah believes that persistence pays off no matter the project and that is especially true in the hemp and cannabis industries.