Nebraska: People’s Will on Cannabis Undermined Again
Nebraska was a rare victory for cannabis in last fall’s elections. Though it was not simple. The cannabis ballot initiative was challenged in court, only to be ruled valid eventually. After the huge struggle medical cannabis to pass the ballot in Nebraska, the people’s will is now again being ignored by those in power.
Nebraska Will NOT Regulate Medical Marijuana This Year
Medical cannabis won’t be regulated by the Nebraska Legislature this year after a bill failed to overcome a filibuster on Tuesday, May 20. That is the sad reality even after Nebraska voters approved two ballot initiatives legalizing and regulating medical cannabis in the last November elections; they did so with a huge majority!
By law, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission is responsible to draft the rules on cannabis, but the group is unlikely to start with any serious activities, such as issuing licenses for medical dispensaries, at least not until October 2025, reports from local media suggest.
In the month of May, state legislators focused on Legislative Bill 677, sponsored by State Senator Ben Hansen, which ultimately failed to secure 33 votes that were needed to shut off a filibuster. Prior to that, the same bill was subject to several amendments, mostly about which medical conditions should be qualifying for a doctor to prescribe medicinal cannabis to a patient.
ALS, cancer and epilepsy are some of the conditions considered by the bill. Other proposed rules outline that a patient can possess up to 5 ounces of medical marijuana, out of which only 2 can be in dried flower form. Only vaping, edibles and liquid marijuana will be permitted as delivery methods, but not smoking.
Hansen said the bill’s failure would only create incertitude among both medical patients and the police. “It does nothing but hurt those specific individuals who need to be able to get it the right way and safely,” he said, Nebraska Public Media reported.
Sen. Jared Storm, one of many opponents to cannabis legalization in the Cornhusker State, defended the outcome. “The ballot initiative as passed by the people does not suggest, invite or require the legislature to act,” he said. “To the contrary, they vest the regulatory authority exclusively in the medical cannabis commission.”
As everyone can see, the commission has been hostile to cannabis. It won’t be the first time. Getting a medical cannabis bill to where it is now in Nebraska has already been a long and painful process. Petitions to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska were ongoing for more than 15 years before the overwhelming ballot success last year. When Nebraskans unambiguously want to have medical cannabis as a treatment option in their state, why is it such a problem to legalize it and regulate it?
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Stephen Andrews
