Activists in Nebraska on Friday unveiled the language of a pair of initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in the state. Supporters now have until July of next year to gather thousands of voter signatures to put the measures on the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n
The petitioning drive to qualify the two initiatives will begin Saturday in Lincoln, near a University of Nebraska football game at Memorial Stadium, where advocates say they plan to \u201ctake advantage of the crowds\u201d to \u201ckick off the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Together, the two initiatives from Medical Marijuana (NMM) would protect qualified patients from legal consequences for cannabis and regulate businesses that produce, distribute and sell marijuana products to those patients. Advocates say they\u2019re done waiting for lawmakers to act on the issue and will instead take the issue directly to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is frustrating that politicians have ignored the will of the people and denied my son and thousands of other patients the compassion they deserve,\u201d said Nicole Hochstein, NMM\u2019s volunteer coordinator for Cedar County and the mother of an 11-year-old child diagnosed with epilepsy. \u201cBut this ballot campaign provides hope to families like ours. We are seeing democracy in action today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repeated pushes to legalize through the state\u2019s unicameral legislature have fizzled,\u00a0most recently in May<\/a> following a Republican-led filibuster. And in 2019, the state\u2019s attorney general argued in an opinion that efforts to legalize medical marijuana would be preempted by federal law<\/a> and \u201cwould be, therefore, unconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana announced the new ballot campaign<\/a> just hours after the most recent legislative effort failed. The group revealed in August that it would pursue the policy change through the a two-initiative campaign<\/a>, and early last month it submitted the proposed ballot measures to state officials for initial approval. Language of the two initiatives, however, were not made public until Friday.<\/p>\n\n This is Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana\u2019s second time pursuing the ballot for cannabis reform. While they collected enough signatures to qualify a medical marijuana legalization measure for the 2020 ballot, the state Supreme Court invalidated it<\/a> on the grounds that it violated the state\u2019s single-subject rule, which limits the scope of citizen initiatives. That\u2019s why the current campaign has split the proposal into two measures, which advocates hope to qualify and pass as a package.<\/p>\n The proposed initiatives<\/a> work together, with one removing legal penalties around cannabis for any qualified patients and the other establishing a new agency, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, to register and regulate businesses that provide cannabis to patients.<\/p>\n Under the first measure, the Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act, patients would be defined as anyone with a physician\u2019s recommendation to use cannabis for therapeutic purposes, though people under 18 would also need written permission from a parent or legal guardian. It would declare that under both state and local law, patients would be allowed to \u201cuse, possess, and acquire an allowable amount of cannabis and cannabis accessories for the alleviation of a medical condition, its symptoms, or side effects of the condition\u2019s treatment.\u201d Designated caretakers could also possess and acquire cannabis for patients.<\/p>\n The proposal would set the \u201callowable amount\u201d of marijuana at up to five ounces, not including the weight of non-cannabis ingredients in infused food, beverages, topicals or other products. It does not appear to contain any provision that would enable patients to grow their own cannabis.<\/p>\n The second measure, the Medical Cannabis Regulation Act, would set up a state system to oversee the medical marijuana market itself. It would establish the Medical Cannabis Commission, which would adopt rules, regulations and standards by July 2023. The body would be required to begin granting registrations\u2014effectively licenses to engage in cannabis activity\u2014by October of that year.<\/p>\n New 2022 petition sheets \u2014 hot off the press! Excited to launch our signature drive this weekend! pic.twitter.com\/UpOI52rm27<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (@NebraskaMJ) September 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n While regulatory details would be set by the commission, the proposed initiative says that cannabis products would include edible products, ointments and tinctures, among others. It also specifically mentions product delivery.<\/p>\n The measure would make it legal for registered cannabis businesses, along with their employees and agents, to \u201cpossess, manufacture, distribute, deliver, and dispense cannabis for medical purposes, provided such conduct complies with applicable rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the Nebraska Medical Marijuana Commission.\u201d It does not include any mention of taxes or fees.<\/p>\n The Commission would consist of the three members of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission and up to two additional members appointed by the governor and confirmed by a majority of lawmakers.<\/p>\n In a video streamed to Facebook this week, the group outlined how Nebraska\u2019s initiative process works and encouraged supporters to get involved.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n State Sen. Anna Wishart (D), who\u2019s been working with NMM on the effort and is scheduled to join the signature-gathering effort in Lincoln on Saturday, said in a statement that the proposal is \u201cfundamentally about having compassion for people who are suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have talked personally about this issue with voters from dozens of counties across Nebraska, including some of the most rural parts of the state,\u201d Wishart said. \u201cThere is an outpouring of grassroots support for this issue\u2014regardless of someone\u2019s political background or views on other issues.\u201d<\/p>\n She and fellow Democratic Sen. Adam Morfeld said late last year that they would also work to put the question of legalizing marijuana for adult use before voters in 2022<\/a>, but it\u2019s not clear whether or not a recreational measure is still in the works.<\/p>\n Crista Eggers, signature drive director for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, told Marijuana Moment in June that the plan was to\u00a0\u201chit the ground running on a mass scale\u201d<\/a> beginning this summer to gather signatures.<\/p>\n The group previously floated the idea of adding a short constitutional amendment into the mix that would simply declare people \u201cin the state of Nebraska shall have the right to cannabis in all its forms for medical purposes.\u201d But that plan was shelved in favor of the new twin measures.<\/p>\n Under last year\u2019s blocked Nebraska medical cannabis initiative, physicians would have been able to recommend marijuana to patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions. Those patients would then have been allowed to possess, purchase and \u201cdiscreetly\u201d cultivate marijuana for personal use.<\/p>\n Each of the two newly unveiled ballot measures will need 87,000 signatures of support from registered voters to qualify for the 2022 ballot. By comparison, when\u00a0Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana<\/a>\u00a0qualified its prior measure for the ballot\u2014only to be thwarted by the court\u2014they submitted nearly 200,000 signatures.<\/p>\n\n Looking ahead to 2022, Nebraska isn\u2019t the only state where voters could see cannabis reform on the ballot.<\/p>\n Florida activists recently filed a ballot measure to legalize marijuana<\/a> for adult use.<\/p>\n South Dakota marijuana activists are\u00a0now ramping up for a signature gathering effort<\/a> to put marijuana legalization on the 2022 ballot as the state Supreme Court continues to consider a case on the fate of the legal cannabis measure that voters approved last year.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers are pursuing a new strategy to legalize marijuana in the state that involves\u00a0putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot<\/a>\u00a0for voters to decide on in 2022.<\/p>\n Lawmakers in Maryland are also crafting legislation to\u00a0place a marijuana legalization referendum on the 2022 ballot<\/a>\u00a0after the House speaker called for the move.<\/p>\n Ohio activists recently cleared a final hurdle to begin collecting signatures for a\u00a02022 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n Missouri voters may see a\u00a0multiple marijuana initiatives on the state\u2019s ballot next year<\/a>, with a new group filing an adult-use legalization proposal that could compete with\u00a0separate reform measures that are already in the works<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arkansas advocates are collecting signatures to\u00a0place adult-use marijuana legalization on the ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Activists in Idaho are working to advance separate measures to legalize possession of recreational marijuana and to create a system of legal medical cannabis sales. State officials recently\u00a0cleared activists to begin collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0for a revised initiative to legalize possession of marijuana that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, a separate\u00a0campaign to legalize medical cannabis in the state<\/a>\u00a0is also underway, with advocates actively collecting signatures to qualify that measure for next year\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n After a House-passed bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana in North Dakota was\u00a0rejected by the Senate in March<\/a>, some senators hatched a plan to\u00a0advance the issue by referring it to voters on the 2022 ballot<\/a>. While their resolution advanced through a key committee, the full Senate blocked it. However, activists with the group\u00a0North Dakota Cannabis Caucus are collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0to qualify a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n Oklahoma advocates\u00a0are pushing two separate initiatives<\/a>\u00a0to legalize marijuana for adult use and overhaul the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n Wyoming\u2019s attorney general recently issued ballot summaries for proposed initiatives to\u00a0legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize cannabis possession<\/a>, freeing up activists to collect signatures to qualify for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just marijuana measures that reform activists are seeking to qualify for state ballots next year. A California campaign was recently cleared to begin\u00a0collecting signatures for an initiative to legalize psilocybin<\/a>. And advocates in Washington State have announced plans to\u00a0put a proposal to decriminalize all drug before voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the full text of the Nebraska medical cannabis ballot measures below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access nebraska-medical-cannabis-ballot-measures.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Bill To Federally Legalize Marijuana Approved By Key House Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Nebraska Advocates Launch Signature Drive For 2022 Medical Marijuana Ballot Measures<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Activists in Nebraska on Friday unveiled the language of a pair of initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in the state. Supporters now have until July of next year to gather thousands of voter signatures to put the measures on the 2022 ballot. The petitioning drive to qualify the two initiativesContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50264,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50263\/revisions\/50264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Nebraska Advocates Launch Signature Drive For 2022 Medical Marijuana Ballot Measures<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"