The Nebraska Advocacy Group continues to push for medical cannabis legalization

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) is stepping up its medical cannabis ballot campaign for the third and hopefully final time.

NMM officially launched its campaign on September 13th with two different measures: the Patient Protection Act and the Medical Cannabis Regulation Act. The former would provide protection for both patients and caregivers, and the latter would create a regulated market. To qualify for the November 2024 ballot, NMM must collect at least 87,000 signatures per measure by July 3, 2024.

NMM campaign manager Crista Eggers, who has been involved in previous medical cannabis ballot initiatives in her state, remains hopeful and steadfast in her mission. “I know the day will come when I can tell it [my son] and that he will understand that by sharing something very personal and very painful, he helped bring about change. “One day there will be a parent I can talk to and they won’t have had to fight this fight,” Eggers told the Nebraska Examiner. “It will be worth it for the one parent who doesn’t face what so many of us face.”

Eggers is the mother of a nine-year-old son who has suffered from epileptic seizures since he was two years old. Although they had tried countless pharmaceutical medications, medical cannabis proved to be the best option. In 2020, Eggers praised the possibility of the first ballot initiative to legalize medical cannabis as a way for parents to help treat their children without criticism. “Right now we are criminals to get our son the help he needs, and that’s what this is about: giving Nebraskans the opportunity to have that choice and to be patients and not criminals,” Eggers said at the time. “We expect the opposition to do everything possible to derail this.”

The 2020 Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative failed to make it onto the ballot because the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the initiative violated the state’s single-subject rule.

Eggers and other advocates also pushed for legalization again in 2022. “We have received so much support from individuals across the state who support the many patients, like our son Colton, who desperately need access to this drug,” Eggers said. “No matter what your political background, we should all agree that criminalizing a drug that has the potential to relieve suffering is both cruel and inhumane.” The Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative 2022 also failed to make the cut in 2022 on the ballot because volunteers failed to collect the required 5% of voter signatures in at least 28 of the state’s 93 counties.

In January of this year, Eggers stated that she would continue to advocate for legal access to cannabis as medicine. “One thing we won’t do is give up,” she told the Nebraska Examiner. She also said she was confident more progress could be made with a new administration and governor.

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen took office in January 2023 and his stance on medical cannabis is similar to that of his predecessor, former Governor Pete Ricketts. “Access to medical marijuana should only be possible once it has gone through the FDA-approved process,” Pillen previously said.

Senator Anna Wishart, who co-chairs the NMM with former Senator Adam Morfeld, has long been a supporter of the legalization of medical cannabis. Wishart has introduced medical cannabis bills in the Legislature before, including a 2021 bill that fell two votes short of passing in a Judiciary Committee.

Also in January 2023, Wishart introduced another medical cannabis bill, Bill 588, entitled the “Medicinal Cannabis Act,” which Wishart described as “one of the most conservative medical cannabis bills in the country.” “It is long past time for Nebraskans to have access to a far safer alternative medicine,” Wishart added. Although LB-588 was introduced in January, there were no further hearings after April.

In Nebraska, lawmakers are limited to two consecutive terms and must wait four years to run for Congress again. Wishart is nearing the end of her two terms in January 2025 and expressed her desire to fight for medical cannabis while she’s still in office.

Legislative opposition to medical cannabis has been met with negative, antiquated comments. In 2021, former Governor Ricketts said, “If you legalize marijuana, you will kill your children.”

Eggers responded to the comment, saying she knew better than Ricketts what was best for her son. “I know what is killing my child, and that is that he has been having terrible seizures every day for five, six years,” Eggers said, noting that cannabis helped, not hurt.

Nebraska is just one of a few states that has not legalized medical cannabis at this time, including Alabama, Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wyoming. Even in these regions where cannabis has not yet been introduced, progress is slow.

For example, although there is no medical cannabis in North Carolina, let alone recreational cannabis, the North Carolina Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians recently voted on a proposal to authorize the sale and regulation of recreational cannabis on their territory. The Tribal Council must now decide to accept the proposal for it to become official.