FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 13, 2021

Contact: Violet Cavendish
vcavendish@mpp.org

Medical Cannabis Campaign Rallies Supporters and Ramps Up Signature Drive for 2022 Ballot Initiative

A coalition of patients, families, and allies working with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana are mobilizing behind new petition language to legalize medical cannabis through the ballot

Anna Wishart, a state senator and co-chair of the campaign, said, “We gathered more than enough signatures last time, and we’ll do it again.”

LINCOLN, NE — After lawmakers failed to pass LB 474, which would have established one of the most restrictive medical cannabis programs in the country, advocates announced plans to reactivate their grassroots base to ramp up a signature drive for a 2022 medical cannabis initiative. 

Last year, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana collected over 196,000 signatures to put a medical cannabis initiative on the November 2020 ballot. The effort was thwarted, however, by a 5-2 decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court that ruled the measure violated Nebraska’s single subject rule for ballot issues. 

In December, the campaign filed new petition language with the Secretary of State to amend the state constitution and legalize medical cannabis through the 2022 ballot. The single-sentence amendment was drafted by a team of legal experts and is designed to avoid potential legal challenges. The group is also considering filing a complementary petition that would establish statutory language to establish sensible regulations for the envisioned medical cannabis program in a strategy modeled on the successful 2020 initiatives that expanded casino gaming in Nebraska.

State Senator Anna Wishart, a leader of both the 2020 campaign and the current effort, expressed confidence in the campaign’s ability to succeed and urged supporters of medical cannabis to join the effort. “It was true last year and it remains true today that the vast majority of Nebraskans are on our side when it comes to this issue. Voters were unfairly denied the opportunity to enact reform last year, but this time we’re ready for any legal challenge, and we will succeed.”

More information can be found at: www.nebraskamarijuana.org.

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Founded in 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the nation’s leading cannabis policy reform organization. MPP has played a central role in passing dozens of cannabis policy reforms in states across the country, including 14 successful cannabis legalization campaigns, and also works to advance federal reforms.

Visit www.mpp.org for more information.