At the end of March, the Senate Judiciary Committee in Nebraska advanced LB 474 to a full chamber vote. This bill would enact the Medical Marijuana Act, legalizing medical cannabis access to qualifying patients across Nebraska. A majority of lawmakers and citizens agree with the measure and are pushing it forward. However, there has been a significant amount of pushback from Governor Pete Ricketts (R).

LB 474

The Medical Marijuana Act received a vote of 5-2 in the Judiciary Committee and its sponsored by Senator Anna Wishart (D). LB 474 would legalize the purchase and possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis for qualifying patients. Originally, LB 474 didn’t state any qualifying conditions for patients. A recent amendment also passed with the initial bill that listed each qualifying condition. 

Current conditions include, but can be added to later:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• Chron’s Disease
• Huntington’s Disease
• Parkinson’s Disease
• HIV/AIDS
• Tourette’s

This step forward for patients is exciting many citizens. Currently, the “Nebraskans for Medical Cannabis” campaign is collecting signatures to put medical cannabis on the ballot in case LB 474 doesn’t make it to Governor Rickett’s desk. Or he decides to veto the measure, which it seems like he is leaning towards. 

For the 2020 ballot, the same organization collected almost 200,000 signatures in support of medical cannabis. Due to the single-subject clause, the state’s Supreme Court threw out the measure before it made it onto the ballot. Activists will make sure this doesn’t happen again. 

Pushback 

The loudest objector to LB 474 is Nebraska Governor Pete Rickett. In mid-March, he, along with other legislative leaders, held a press conference on the dangers of cannabis on young children. He even said:

“This is a dangerous drug that will impact our kids. If you legalize marijuana, you’re gonna kill your kids. That’s what the data shows around the country. Don’t legalize marijuana in the state of Nebraska.”

Interview

In a recent news interview, Governor Rickett continued to say cannabis was dangerous for everyone. Because cannabis is so dangerous, the only organization that should have any control over the plant is the FDA. 

“What the people who want to use medical…marijuana should do is go through the Food and Drug Administration. As has been done for some drugs. There are drugs that take abstracts from cannabis or chemicals from that to be able to create drugs. That’s the way we keep people safe. That’s a regulatory structure that protects all of us. 

“By avoiding it, which is what these big pot companies want to do is, they want to avoid regulation. There is no such thing as medical marijuana. It can’t be prescribed by a doctor. It doesn’t get distributed by a pharmacy. It’s not gone through the regulatory process. They can’t do that…So that is what leads to all of the really disastrous things that we have seen in other states where we see marijuana can cause psychosis and schizophrenia in people…They are seeing more youth suicides of young people with marijuana in their system when they commit suicide. So we can see the really disastrous effects it has on people. 

“That is why I am telling people, if you want to do it, you have to go through the Food and Drug Administration like we do for all other drugs to make sure they are safe and effective and not go around that and not basically deregulate the pot industry.”

Future

As LB 474 moves forward, there is concern Governor Rickett will veto the measure should it come across his desk. With that in mind, activists are still collecting signatures to get the measure on the ballot. If it gains enough voter approval at the polls, then there is no way the governor can ignore it’s desire. If it comes down to it, some expect Nebraska to go through the same issues South Dakota is experiencing. Currently, their governor is pushing back against the voter approved medical cannabis program.

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