Lawsuit Challenges Medical Cannabis on Upcoming Nebraska Ballot

On Friday, September 20, 2024, a District Court judge in Nebraska held an initial briefing on a lawsuit filed on September 12, regarding two medical cannabis measures—the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act and the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act—appearing on the state’s ballot in November (1). The measures would legalize medical cannabis, create the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission by July 2025, set official measurements delineating medical cannabis, and outline methods of obtaining medical cannabis legally (2). Currently, Nebraska is one of only three states that do not allow cannabis in any form (3).

Earlier this month, John Kuehn, a former state senator, had filed the lawsuit intending to request an examination of the signatures submitted for the two medical cannabis petitions to appear on the November ballot (2). The lawsuit alleges that several of the submitted signatures were illegally counted due to various reasons including signatures collected by petitioners who did not disclose if they were paid or not, signatures collected from people who were not registered to vote, and several others (1).

“Hopefully we can all work together and resolve these claims as expeditiously as possible, hopefully before the election, though I understand we don’t have to,” stated Judge Susan Strong, who had been appointed to the case (1). “I think that would be the best course.” She also stated her ruling, on a recently filed motion to dismiss, could be given at the end of this week (1).

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen certified both the petitions and ballot on September 13. Patient and Caregiver Protection Act was assigned ballot initiative number 437, and the Medical Cannabis Regulation Act was assigned ballot initiative number 438 (4).

The registered ballot committee Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) had been leading campaign efforts, including collecting signatures, for the two measures (2,3). By the July 3 deadline, they reported they’d collected and submitted 114,000 signatures (2).

This is the third attempt by advocates to add medical cannabis to the state’s ballot. Previous attempts include a 2020 initiative that was removed due to a lawsuit, and a 2022 initiative (4).

At the announcement of the two measures’ certification for the ballot, NMM campaign manager Crista Eggers stated (4), “Today we celebrate, along with Nebraska patients and caregivers, in this significant milestone of ballot certification. Many years of hard work, along with Nebraska’s unwavering and overwhelming support, has made this day possible. We are confident that come November, Nebraskans will once and for all have the ability to vote FOR safe and compassionate medical cannabis access and regulation.”

Nebraska joins two other states, Florida and South Dakota, that have cannabis legalization measures on their ballots this November (3).

References

1. Wendling, Z. District court proceedings begin on Nebraska medical cannabis lawsuit https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/20/district-court-proceedings-begin-on-nebraska-medical-cannabis-lawsuit/ (accessed Sept. 23, 2024).
2. Wendling, Z. Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Nebraska’s medical marijuana ballot measures https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/12/lawsuit-seeks-to-invalidate-nebraskas-medical-marijuana-ballot-measures/ (accessed Sept. 23, 2024).
3. McEvoy, E. Nebraska Approaches Deadline to Include Medical Cannabis on November Ballot https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/nebraska-approaches-deadline-to-include-medical-cannabis-on-november-ballot (accessed Sept. 23, 2024).
4. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana https://nebraskamarijuana.org/ (accessed Sept. 23, 2024).