Nebraska is nearing two medical marijuana proposals in the 2022 vote

An advocacy group took a crucial step in the process on Wednesday to finally propose two medical marijuana proposals to voters in Nebraska when they vote next year.

The Nebraskan Medical Marijuana Group said it “recently submitted draft measures to the Nebraska Secretary of State and is expected to start circulating petitions later this month.”

It intends to “qualify two initiatives ahead of next November elections by collecting around 250,000 signatures across the state before the July 7, 2022 deadline.” The state of Nebraska is expected to approve the petitions for distribution later this month.

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, the first initiative would “require the legislature to pass new laws protecting doctors who recommend and patients who own or use medical cannabis from criminal prosecution.”

According to the second proposal, legislators would have to “pass laws that create a legal framework that protects private companies that manufacture and supply medicinal cannabis”.

The group plans to “release the full text of both medicinal cannabis initiatives as soon as the petitions are officially approved for distribution by the state”.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is headed by Crista Eggers, who has a six-year-old son, Colton, who has severe persistent epilepsy.

“We have received so much encouragement from individuals across the state helping the many patients, like our son Colton, who are in dire need of access to this drug. Regardless of your political background, we should all agree that criminalizing a drug that has the potential to alleviate suffering is both cruel and inhumane, “Eggers said in a press release on Wednesday. “The current policy does not reflect our family values ​​here in Nebraska, and we will change that. We need everyone who believes in compassion for suffering people like my son to be part of this movement and help us win in 2022. “

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana says it has “so far recruited hundreds of volunteers from over 50 counties” and “is working to organize local teams and mobilize supporters to be part of the grassroots signature drive”.

The parliamentary group has also drawn a legislative push with state senator Adam Mörfeld.

“It is heartbreaking and pointless for politicians to stand in the way of families and patients who urgently need safe, legal access to medical cannabis,” Morfeld said in the press release. “But we won’t stop fighting for them. We hope that every Nebraskan will stand by our side and contribute to the success of our campaign by getting involved and supporting the efforts as best they can. “

For Nebraskans for medical marijuana, the new campaign is a chance for redemption after a previous effort has fizzled out. Last year the group garnered nearly 200,000 signatures for a proposal to legalize medical marijuana, but the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the initiative violates a state’s one-topic voting requirement that “the general topic of a proposed Voting “measure is defined by its main purpose” and that, in the absence of a unifying purpose, “separate proposals in a voting measure necessarily represent independent and different proposals that require separate voting”.

The legislature revived the efforts in this year’s legislative period, but they too fizzled out.

The lawmaker who led the effort, Senator Anna Wishart, said the coalition went back to the drawing board after these two shortcomings, seeking consultations from both the Marijuana Policy Project and the Nebraska ACLU.

In May, Wishart posted an optimistic note, suggesting that this campaign was ready to get it right.

“That was true last year, and it is still true today, that the vast majority of Nebraskans are on our side on this issue,” Wishart said. “Last year voters were wrongly denied the opportunity to pass reforms, but this time we are ready for any legal challenge and will succeed.”