Nebraska Takes First Steps Toward Cannabis Reform

Flickr user Prensa 420

Nebraska has long been known as one of the states that is
holding out when it comes to legalizing cannabis but recently, they took the
first steps in a approving a bill that would accept medical cannabis on a
statewide level. The bill, officially known as Legislative Bill 643, is also
being called the Medical Cannabis Act.

According to an article for International
Business Times, the bill was voted on favorably by the state Senate
with a margin of 27 to 12, but there is a catch: the bill had to remove the provision
to give medical cannabis for “chronic pain,” as that was seen as too vague, and
it had to prohibit smoking as a way to medicate. Also, while this is a
favorable margin, it is still three votes short of having the power to override
the Governor’s veto, so it could easily get shot down.

The author of the bill is Republican senator Tommy Garret.
“Colleagues, we need to be strong, we need to be brave,” he told KETV.
“We need to help those that are sick and ailing and out of
options.”

As a representative of a more conservative party in a
typically conservative state, he had to point out that the bill is, “not about
stoners getting high…We are not Colorado, we are not California.” He also
emphasized that it would just be about getting medicine to those with cancer
and epilepsy, and nothing more.

This bill was likely drafted due to the fact that the Federal
government is considered moving cannabis to Schedule II so that medical testing
can proceed, and allowing the FDA to regulate CBD oil and make it into a viable
medicine. While there are still some archaic things about this particular
approach to legislation, and the bill could still be vetoed, this is still a
big step forward for a state that just a few months ago wanted to sue
Colorado over legal cannabis.