Medical marijuana legalization and regulation gets certification
LINCOLN — A ballot initiative to legalize and regulate medical marijuana in Nebraska has officially been certified for the November ballot, facing local litigation and a statewide investigation into whether the signatures are valid enough.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Friday that Nebraskans’ campaign for medical marijuana has officially received nearly 90,000 valid signatures as of Friday. On the same day, Evnen must complete the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election, a year after the signature-gathering drive began in its third attempt in 2023.
Nebraska AG announces investigation into ‘thousands of signatures’ on 2024 petition
Avnen said an ongoing investigation by Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ office “has uncovered serious questions about the petition signature-gathering process.” At least one signature gatherer has been charged with a felony.
“I am in the process of certifying the petitions because at this time they appear to have met the signature requirements,” Avnan said in a statement. “That may change based on the Attorney General’s investigation. Both marijuana petitions will be out are on the ballot now, but a court may later order the initiatives struck down.
Crista Eggers, statewide medical marijuana campaign manager, thanked Hilgers and local officials for investigating any violations and working to protect the integrity of the public initiative process.
“Circulators are held to extremely high standards and must strictly comply with all legal requirements for collecting signatures,” Eggers said in a statement. “Any circulator who violates the law should be held accountable for their actions.”
What a petition does
Both 2024 petitions define marijuana as all parts of the Cannabis genus plant, including hemp, hashish and concentrates, but do not include hemp as defined in state law.
an effort, Nebraska Medical Marijuana Regulation Actwould legalize the possession, manufacture, distribution, delivery and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes and would establish the Nebraska Medical Marijuana Commission to oversee the law.
If enacted, the commission would have until July 1, 2025, to develop criteria for accepting or rejecting applications to register cannabis businesses.
Lincoln State Senator Anna Wishart during the launch of the Nebraska Medical Marijuana 2024 petition drive at Duffy’s Tavern on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska Give a speech to a group of people. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Another petition, Nebraska Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Actwould set the allowable amount of medical marijuana at five ounces; would exempt patients and caregivers from using or assisting others in using marijuana; would require a written recommendation from a health care practitioner and a legal guardian or parent of a minor before a prescription can be prescribed Written recommendations.
Evnen first announced that the campaign had passed the signature threshold for the Aug. 30 ballot, but said some signatures were still being counted across the state.
Initiative petitions require valid signatures from at least 7% of Nebraska’s registered voters (approximately 86,500), including at least 5% of voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.
In July, the campaign’s two petitions each generated more than 114,000 signatures. Evnen’s office confirmed that nearly 90,000 signatures per petition were verified, exceeding the 5% signature threshold in 52 counties.
“Today is an important day for Nebraska patients who are one step closer to safe and regulated medical marijuana,” Eggers said. “We are grateful to all Nebraskans who are not only Support us and are the heart and soul of this fight.”
Legal challenge, investigation pending
The campaign faces at least one local legal challenge, filed Wednesday by John Kuehn of Heartwell, a veterinarian and rancher who served in the Nebraska Legislature and was appointed by then-Gov. Member of the State Board of Health. Pete Ricketts.
Kuhn argued that Avnein’s office has not yet provided access to pages of petitions collected across the state following a public records request requesting an independent review of the campaign’s signatures, which county officials have now obtained through Avnein. Certified.
The lawsuit asks the Lancaster County District Court to either prevent Nebraskans from voting on the measures or prevent Avnien and other constitutional officials from certifying the results of the measures.
Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Nebraska’s medical marijuana ballot measure
Kuhn’s argument is that the group did not collect enough valid signatures and that the measures would be an unlawful authorization of the Legislature’s regulatory powers, and claims that the law cannot take effect because federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal Schedule I drug.
As of Friday morning, the case before Judge Susan Strong had not yet been scheduled.
As of February, 38 states Marijuana is allowed for medical use, and 24 states have also legalized recreational marijuana use, according to the Pew Research Center. Washington, D.C., has also decriminalized both.
In May, the federal government Officially begins what could be The long process of reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drugsThe same level as heroin or LSD, the same level as Schedule III drugs, the same level as Tylenol with codeine or ketamine.
Hilgers, who opposed medical marijuana as a state legislator, announced Friday morning an investigation with local officials into alleged signature fraud on medical marijuana petitions. As part of that process, Hall County officials filed criminal charges against a Grand Island man.
Hall County Elections Commissioner Tracy Overstreet confirmed to the Nebraska Examiner that the numbers used by Evan did not include those signatures suspected of fraud.
“They were flagged as fraudulent and rejected and were not included in the total from the beginning,” Overstreet said Friday morning.
As attorney general, Hilgers led a statewide campaign against delta-8, a drug that contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound in the marijuana plant often associated with getting people high.
Third time participating in the event
The cannabis movement began in 2019 after legislative efforts stalled. Organizers submitted enough signatures for the first attempt in 2020, but a separate petition was excluded from the ballot.
At the time, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that legalization and regulation were two different and independent subjects, violating the Nebraska Constitution’s single subject rule. Kunis believes that the petitions, now split between regulation and legalization, once again violate this rule.
Krista Eggers (center) signs an affidavit pledging that the Nebraska Medical Marijuana Campaign has collected enough signatures for Nebraska’s fall election. Eggers with her husband, Easton, and sons, from left, Carsten, 11, and Colton, 9. July 3, 2024.
In 2022, the campaign tried again but did not gain enough signatures.
In September 2023, the group returned with two separate petitions and made this the third and final campaign cycle in hopes of success.
Opponents of medical marijuana, including Gov. Jim Pillen, often argue that its use should be allowed only with approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pillen said legalizing marijuana “is causing clear harm to our children.”
Ricketts, now a U.S. senator, made national headlines as governor in 2021 for saying that if voters legalized marijuana, “you’re going to kill your children.”
Eggers helped organize the petition for her son, who suffers from epilepsy and severe seizures. When the campaign was launched in September 2023, she countered that it was daily “terrible seizures” that had led to her child’s death.
Other 2024 Ballot Measures
In addition to the medical marijuana ballot measure, Evnen confirmed that all four other ballot measures certified for the general election will also be on the Nov. 5 election.
Both the abortion-related and school-related petitions face legal challenges in the Nebraska Supreme Court. The justices unanimously rejected those arguments in Friday’s ruling.
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