It seems that other lawmakers are taking a page from the Alabama medical cannabis legalization bill. Everything comes to a stop with a filibuster. And unfortunately, there weren’t enough lawmakers to announce a cloture and bring the filibuster to an end in Nebraska. 

A cloture is a way for lawmakers to put a time limit on speeches so that a bill can receive a vote on time. It’s the only way to overcome a filibuster. But a super majority of lawmakers need to vote towards a cloture. Nebraska needed 33 votes. It received 31.

The medical cannabis legalization bill, LB 474, is now effectively dead. Efforts towards any sort of cannabis legalization or reform has ended for 2021 in Nebraska. But that doesn’t mean that supporters and lawmakers are giving up completely.

LB 474

Nebraska’s medical cannabis legalization bill would have allowed 17 qualifying conditions to purchase and possess small amounts of cannabis. Some conditions include: cancer, Crohn’s Disease, chronic pain, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and PTSD. 

LB 474 did include many restrictions, including no smokable medical cannabis products. Physicians also couldn’t recommend medical cannabis to patients. Patients would have to ask for it as a medicine option. 

There is huge support for this bill across the state. An organization, called Nebraskans for Medical Cannabis, collected signatures in 2019 and 2020 to put medical cannabis on the general election ballot. But after a lawsuit filed against the signatures collected, the Nebraska Supreme Court overruled the signature measure. The organization hasn’t stopped yet. They are looking toward the 2022 general election to put the cannabis question on the ballot. A modified version of LB 474 will appear on the ballot.

Lawmaker Response

Even though her bill saw defeated in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature, Senator Anna Wishart (D) remains confident that Nebraskans will get medical cannabis. “No amount of money or opposition is going to silence the people of Nebraska on this issue,” the senator said during her floor speech. “You would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know a person who has benefited from having access to cannabis for medical purposes.”

Even if LB 474 had made it through it’s legislative process, Governor Picketts would have most likely vetoed the bill. He is vocally opposed to medical cannabis. Even more so since the bill became introduced earlier this year. The governor even went on to hold a press conference about the dangers of cannabis and what the states that have legalized it don’t tell the general public. 

Nebraska’s Attorney General is even against legalization efforts, saying that Nebraska would be breaking the nation’s constitution by legalizing cannabis since it’s still a Schedule I drug on the federal level. 

However the bill breaks down, medical cannabis legalization passes on to the general public. It’s now time to shift gears towards the ballot of 2022. 

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.