"In 1986, the Kansas Legislature enacted the Respiratory Therapy Practice Act. The bill was included in the Kansas Statutes Annotated as K.S.A. 65-5501 et seq. The statute designated the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts as the agency responsible for registering respiratory therapists commencing July 1, 1987. The 1999 Kansas Legislature made substantial changes to the respiratory therapy laws. Effective March 1, 2000, it became unlawful for any person not licensed under this act as a respiratory therapist to refer to themselves as a licensed respiratory therapist, or use the abbreviation of CRTT, RRT, RCP or the words "respiratory therapist," "respiratory care practitioner", or "inhalation therapist." These changes made the practice of respiratory therapy without a license a class B misdemeanor. The following is a compilation of the current statutes and rules and regulations pertaining to respiratory therapy."