Nebraska Governor Issues Emergency Rule for Cannabis
(On the left) Photo of Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, 2025. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Noel Williams
The struggle to get legal medicinal cannabis to patients in Nebraska continues. The governor of the Cornhusker State has issued an emergency rule where he asks the state’s regulatory commission to start licensing and applications for medical cannabis establishments no later than October 1. The Attorney General office has previously threatened lawsuits if any licenses are granted.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen officially approved emergency rules and regulations for the state regulatory commission to start licensing medical cannabis operators, just in time for a voters-imposed July 1 deadline. Nebraskans legalized medical cannabis on the ballot in November. Voters also approved the creation of the Nebraska Cannabis Commission, which is supposed to have ‘exclusive’ powers in regulating the green herb.
The commission should coordinate market activities along with other agencies, such as the Nebraska Department of Health and the Governor’s Policy and Research office. Pillen’s office said in a statement that the agencies “will ensure Nebraska’s new cannabis industry is properly regulated as outlined in the ballot initiatives passed by voters and signed by him into law.”
Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the campaign behind the 2024 voter initiatives, criticized the work of the commission, saying it has “failed” the people from day one. “This Commission was created by and for the people of Nebraska, and it must answer to them,” she said, Nebraska Examiner reported.
Under the emergency regulation, the commission is supposed to grant the first applications until Oct. 1 at the latest.
Who Can Run a Medical Cannabis Establishment in Nebraska?
The governor issued emergency guidelines, which means that anyone can apply for a cultivator, dispensary, product manufacturer, or transporter license. Only one license type can be awarded per individual applicant (whether a person or business).
Licenses are deemed non-transferable and are valid for two years before seeking renewal. Requirements for setting up a cannabis business include keeping a location at least 1,000 feet away from existing schools, daycare centers, churches and hospitals.
Those convicted of any felony or a controlled substance-related offense within the last 10 years are not license eligible candidates.
It is due to be decided a deadline and where to send applications.
Repeated Attempts to Rebut New Cannabis Laws
Various parties have tried to challenge the people-supported measure to introduce medical marijuana in Nebraska. The vote was even challenged in court, in an attempt to make it invalid. One of the main arguments among opponents is the fact that the federal government still designates marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, disregarding another fact - that thirty-nine states successfully operate medical cannabis in spite of the federal classification.
Cannabis has many state enemies in Nebraska, and the threats are not finished. In fact, just days after Gov. Pillen ordered the emergency regulation on medical cannabis, a former state senator appealed another case to the Nebraska Supreme Court to annul the voter-approved cannabis legislation, Nebraska Examiner reported.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. If the emergency regulations move forward and become formal, cannabis patients in Nebraska can have easier and legal access to many of the herbal-based medicines, just like their counterparts in thirty-plus other U.S. states.
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Stephen Andrews
