Medical cannabis takes effect; prohibitionists try to block it in court

On November 5, 2024, Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved two companion medical cannabis initiatives! Both measures received more than two-thirds of the vote. On December 10, 2024, Gov. Jim Pillen (R) signed a proclamation that made Nebraska’s voter-approved medical cannabis measures law — Initiatives 437 and 438.

Initiative 437 does not require any implementation. Certified patients can possess up to five ounces of cannabis (not including the weight of other ingredients). To qualify, the patient must have a “valid signed and dated declaration” from a licensed MD, DO, physicians assistant, or nurse practitioner saying that, in the practitioner’s judgment “the potential benefits of cannabis outweigh the potential harms for the alleviation of a patient’s medical condition, its symptoms, or side effects of the condition’s treatment.”

Regulated, in-state access to cannabis will take longer: Initiative 438 creates the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to license and regulate private businesses that provide medical cannabis to qualified patients. Regulations are due on  July 1, 2025.

It has been a heartbreakingly long journey to enact medical cannabis protections, and prohibitionists are trying to undo the will of the people. Former state senator John Kuehn has filed lawsuits to try to block the measures from taking effect. Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong has dismissed the lawsuits, but Kuehn is appealing.

Make sure you’re signed up for MPP’s emails, so we can keep you posted on the court cases and implementation. There may also be a need to defend the laws in the legislature. 

The Long Road to Medical Cannabis

2024 marked the third attempt to take medical cannabis to the ballot. In 2020, advocates collected enough signatures to put a constitutional medical cannabis initiative on the ballot. Just three months before Election Day, the state Supreme Court issued a deeply flawed court ruling that prevented voters from deciding the issue. In 2022, families tried again. The 2022 effort, which was largely volunteer, came just a few thousand signatures away from meeting the required threshold to qualify.

Due to the outrageously restrictive single-subject ruling, in 2024 medical cannabis were broken up into two separate, very simple companion measures. With all precincts reporting, Measure 437 received 70.74% of the vote while Measure 438 received 66.95%.

Of course, none of these ballot measures would have been needed if the Legislature had enacted the will of voters itself, and passed a medical cannabis measure.

Nebraska’s limited “decriminalization” law

In 1978, the Nebraska Legislature enacted a limited "decriminalization" law. For a first offense, individuals possessing one ounce or less of cannabis are subject to a citation, a fine of up to $300 plus court costs, and the judge may order the person to complete a drug education course. A person can be sentenced to up to five days in jail for a second offense, however. The “decrim” law also does not include concentrated cannabis, which is a felony.

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