Nebraska Senators Launch Medical Cannabis Petition
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]N[/dropcap]ebraska Sen. Adam Morfeld and Sen. Anna Wishart launched a petition drive last week to legalize medical cannabis in the state. The two senators plan on putting a Constitutional amendment on medical cannabis for the 2020 ballot in Nebraska.
The petition effort is being called Nebraskans for Sensible Marijuana Laws. In order to get the bill on the ballot, they will need signatures from 10 percent of state’s registered voters.
“We are quickly being surrounded by states that have sensible laws on medical marijuana, and we do not,” Sen. Adam Morfeld told The New York Times. “A lot of Nebraskans are looking to other states—to Utah and Missouri—and saying, ‘Wow, these are also conservative states and they have much more reasonable policies about this than we do.’”
Now that the District of Columbia, 32 states and several territories have legalized medical cannabis, residents in Nebraska want a piece. In 2016 and 2017, efforts to legalize medical cannabis failed by lack of votes or due to a veto from Gov. Pete Ricketts. Gov. Ricketts called cannabis a “dangerous drug” in 2016 and called for slow caution. But now lawmakers think Nebraskans are ready to legalize the plant for its medical benefits.
Despite Nebraska’s normally conservative stance on cannabis, Sen. Wishart believes the state has a real shot at passing a law this time around. “I think this is very achievable,” she said. “We are starting to get a history in Nebraska of passing ballot initiatives when the Legislature is unable to move forward on an issue.”
Nebraska shares a border on two sides with Colorado. So Nebraskans, like Utahns or Wyoming residents, merely have to drive an hour or so into Colorado in order to shop for cannabis. Seventy-seven percent of Nebraska voters now say they would support medical cannabis. It’s only a matter of time before medical cannabis sweeps over the state.
