Nebraska campaigners are struggling to put medical marijuana measures on the 2022 ballot

Cannabis advocates are planning a massive campaign to put a medical marijuana legalization initiative on Nebraska’s ballot paper in 2022, two years after the state’s highest court killed a similar measure.

In 2020, the Nebraskans for Medical Marihuana advocacy group gathered over 200,000 signatures on a petition to put medical marijuana legalization on the general election ballot. Local police officers immediately filed lawsuits against the campaign, arguing that it violated the state’s one-topic rule for constitutional amendments. Last September, the state Supreme Court sided with the police and killed the legalization measure.

Earlier this year, Democratic Senators Anna Wishart and Adam Morfeld attempted to get a medical marijuana bill through the state legislature, but it was quickly dismantled by the state’s GOP leadership. And even if the bill had been successful, Governor Pete Ricketts – a vehement prohibitionist who still ridiculously claims that legal weed kills children – would certainly have vetoed it.

But unlike the politicians who voted them into office, the vast majority of Nebraskans want legal access to medical cannabis. And since the current government seems determined to prevent any attempt to reform the state’s outdated cannabis laws, a referendum seems like the only possible solution. This year, the medical marijuana Nebraskans are bringing their election campaign back with a few changes to ensure the proposal survives any legal challenge.

“This time we are making absolutely sure that everything is very solid and that there are no holes and nothing with which the opposition can try to turn things around in the future,” said Crista Eggers, the characteristic drive director of the Marihuana Moment group. “That means at the moment that we will most likely have several petitions circulating.”

Instead of consolidating all aspects of legalization into one measure, activists design several individual initiatives. The first of these is a constitutional amendment that simply states that “Individuals in the state of Nebraska have the right to use cannabis in all of its forms for medical purposes.” The group also designs legislative initiatives to create the specific laws and regulations necessary to establish a functioning medical marijuana program.

A team of lawyers is currently checking every single proposal for leaks. Once the final language has been approved, the campaign will launch a massive drive to collect signatures for each and every election. The constitutional amendment requires lawyers to collect 124,000 valid signatures, but the legislative amendments require fewer signatures.

Eggers told Marijuana Moment that the group plans to “kick off en masse” from July 1, so “you just have nowhere to go without someone to pick up your signature when you’re ready.” I have absolutely no doubt that we can do it. But we want to approach it wisely and strategically so that we have the best chance of success. “