Nebraska voters legalized medical cannabis on Tuesday with the passage of two ballot measures in this week’s general election. The first measure, Initiative 437, legalizes the medicinal use of cannabis in Nebraska, while Initiative 438 establishes a regulatory framework for the production and sale of medical cannabis.
With more than 95% of votes counted as of Wednesday afternoon, Initiative 347 had garnered nearly 71% of the vote, according to data from the New York Times, and Initiative 438 succeeded at the polls with just under 70% of votes cast.
This year was the third time cannabis activists in Nebraska have tried to put a medical cannabis legalization measure on the ballot. In 2020, a medical cannabis legalization proposal qualified for the ballot, but the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the measure did not meet a requirement limiting initiatives to a single subject. In 2022, a medical cannabis measure failed to qualify for the ballot when the group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana was unable to collect signatures from 5% of voters in at least 38 of the state’s 93 counties.
Crista Eggers, the campaign manager for both ballot measures, said that after a decade of work and three attempts, Tuesday’s victory “solidifies for us that we have always been fighting for the right reason.”
“We have been fighting for the patients in this state, and tonight’s win is not because of a few people or one campaign,” Eggers told the Nebraska Examiner. “Tonight’s win is for the Nebraska patients.”
Initiative Measure 437, also known as the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act, legalizes the medicinal use of cannabis for patients who have a written recommendation from a healthcare professional. The new law also legalizes the possession for medicinal purposes of up to five ounces of cannabis by patients and caregivers.
Initiative Measure 438, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act, legalizes the possession, production, processing, distribution, and dispensing of medical cannabis for businesses licensed by the state. The measure also establishes the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to oversee the enactment of the law and regulate the state’s newly legal medical cannabis industry.
Litigation Threatens Nebraska’s Successful Medical Cannabis Measures
Despite the success of Initiatives 437 and 438 at the polls on Tuesday, implementation of the ballot measures is threatened by litigation challenging the validity of signatures submitted to qualify the proposals for the ballot. A lawsuit was filed by medical cannabis opponent John Kuehn, a former state senator and former member of the State Board of Health, and joined by Secretary of State Bob Evnen, even though his office certified the measures for the ballot.
District Judge Susan Strong is now weighing the legal arguments presented in a four-day trial held last week in Lancaster County District Court. If she finds in favor of the plaintiffs, she could void the results of Tuesday’s election, dashing the hopes of medical cannabis advocates once again.
Strong could also side with Kuehn and Evnen but allow the campaign to attempt to cure the “invalidity” of enough signatures at a potential second phase of the trial. The judge could also rule in favor of the sponsors of the initiatives, which would confirm the validity of this week’s election results.
However Strong rules, attorneys for both sides have acknowledged that the case will likely be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Eggers, whose 10-year-old son has epilepsy, said that she is confident that the campaign will overcome the legal challenges to the medical cannabis legalization measures.
“The day that that happens, that’s when we know that we did our jobs,” Eggers said. “It’s not over, a lot ahead of us, but I think tonight speaks that Nebraskans have had their voices heard once and for all on this issue.”
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