Nebraska

Nebraska state senators have announced public forums coming this weekend across the Omaha area to discuss medical cannabis policy with the public.

Lawmakers in the Nebraska General Affairs Committee voted 5-3 against advancing a bill to implement the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis program.

Two proposals in the Nebraska Legislature seek to establish regulations, taxes, and licenses for the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis program.

Nebraska state lawmakers are beginning to plan for the medical cannabis program approved by voters last November.

One of the plaintiffs in the recently dismissed lawsuit that aimed to invalidate the petitions behind Nebraska’s successful medical cannabis legalization effort has filed another suit seeking to block the reforms.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office appears to be setting up to appeal the recent dismissal of a lawsuit brought against two successful medical cannabis initiatives that state voters overwhelmingly approved last month.

A Nebraska judge last week dropped all charges against a notary public caught up in an ongoing legal challenge against the medical cannabis ballot initiatives approved by voters earlier this month.

Nebraska’s two medical cannabis initiatives — one seeking to legalize medical cannabis and another to establish a regulated medical cannabis marketplace — were approved on Tuesday with 71% and 67% voter support, respectively. There remains a legal challenge to the initiatives, however, that could stymie the results.

Nebraska officials will count votes for and against the state’s medical cannabis legalization bid this week and will publish the results despite an ongoing legal challenge disputing the campaign’s petition signature-gathering process.

The trial over Nebraska’s two medical cannabis ballot initiatives began Tuesday after state officials challenged the proposals’ signature-gathering process. The initiatives, which together seek to legalize medical cannabis, will remain on state ballots but, depending on the trial, could be invalidated even if approved by voters.

Nebraska officials are questioning the validity of more than half of the already-validated signatures on the state’s petitions to legalize medical cannabis; advocates say the approach is “working to silence and disenfranchise” Nebraska citizens.

A judge in Lancaster County, Nebraska is allowing parts of a lawsuit that challenges the state’s two petitions to legalize medical cannabis to move forward.

A former Nebraska state senator has filed a lawsuit to invalidate two medical cannabis petitions — one to legalize medical cannabis and one to regulate the industry — that were approved for November ballots earlier this month.

Nebraska’s secretary of state said the state’s campaigns to legalize and regulate medical cannabis have qualified for the November ballot.

Nebraska cannabis advocates have submitted more than 114,000 signatures for their petition to legalize medical cannabis in the state.

Cannabis advocates in Nebraska are making the state’s third attempt to legalize medical cannabis via a voter ballot initiative.

Cannabis advocates in Nebraska have filed the paperwork for a petition drive seeking to put a medical cannabis legalization question on the state’s 2024 ballot.

The campaigns to legalize medical cannabis in Nebraska weren’t able to collect enough signatures to qualify for November election ballots, but state Sen. Jen Day (D) said she would introduce legalization legislation in the next session.

Nebraska medical cannabis advocates have turned in two petitions exceeding the 87,000-signature threshold for putting medical cannabis reforms on the ballot.

A new survey revealed that 83% of Nebraskans supported the legalization of medical cannabis in 2021 and 2022. 

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana filed a lawsuit against the state’s ballot initiative process which requires signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 counties, a rule that gives disproportionate power to rural voters.

A medical cannabis proposal in Nebraska labeled as “poison pill” legislation by activists seeks to legalize dispensaries but provides no legal means of cultivating cannabis for commercial purposes.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Rickets recently appeared in an anti-medical cannabis ad claiming that the plant is not medicinal and that the medical cannabis movement is a backdoor for adult-use reforms.