{"id":83590,"date":"2025-10-01T04:55:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/nebraska-officials-miss-medical-marijuana-licensing-deadline-as-regulators-resign\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:02:52","slug":"nebraska-officials-miss-medical-marijuana-licensing-deadline-as-regulators-resign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/nebraska-officials-miss-medical-marijuana-licensing-deadline-as-regulators-resign\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Officials Miss Medical Marijuana Licensing Deadline As Regulators Resign"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe integrity of a lawful election is being stolen by self-righteous politicians who beat their chests, trumpeting election integrity while quietly using you as a commission to undermine it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supporters have questioned for months whether the voter-authorized Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission would meet its October 1 deadline to grant its first licenses.<\/p>\n

The answer is no: The commission will miss that deadline by at least one week, in the wake of two resignations sought and received by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) of liquor regulators who jointly served on the medical cannabis board.<\/p>\n

The Medical Cannabis Commission confirmed the new timeline Tuesday at a meeting originally meant to approve the first cultivator licenses and move toward the first steps of a medical cannabis supply chain in the state. However, two of the five cannabis commissioners resigned Monday, both of whom served on a three-member team evaluating and scoring cultivator applications received by September 23.<\/p>\n

Now, the remaining commissioners will independently review applications by next Tuesday, when commissioners will meet to decide whether to award up to four cultivator licenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would just ask for your understanding that this is a situation that none of us created in this, where we\u2019re at right here,\u201d Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna said Tuesday. \u201cWe would just hope you understand that we\u2019re working through this the best that we can to make sure that we get the licenses issued in a timely manner and evaluated and issued in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resignations impacted timeline<\/h4>\n

Dr. Monica Oldenburg, an anesthesiologist who chairs the commission, had been on the initial evaluation team with former Commissioners Bruce Bailey of Lincoln and Kim Lowe of Kearney. The plan was to average out scores before this week\u2019s meeting and then vote on whether to grant the first licenses.<\/p>\n

Oldenburg, a May appointee of Pillen\u2019s, has a narrower view of what the voters passed than Bailey and Lowe, such as on smoking. Bailey had the most permissive view of voters\u2019 wishes.<\/p>\n

Under a\u00a0state law passed by about 67 percent of voters last November, with majority support in 46 of 49 legislative districts, the commission needed to, \u201cNo later than October 1, 2025, begin granting registrations to applicants that meet eligibility standards and other requirements established by the commission.\u201d The\u00a0guidelines\u00a0were established by an early July 1 deadline set by voters.<\/p>\n

Bailey and Lowe resigned Monday, tossing a major wrench into whether the commission would meet its Wednesday licensing deadline.<\/p>\n

Pillen\u2019s request followed the\u00a0unsealing\u00a0last week of\u00a0federal corruption charges\u00a0against former Liquor Control Commission Executive Director Hobert \u201cHobie\u201d Rupe. Rupe has pleaded not guilty. The indictment did not implicate any member of the Liquor Control Commission.<\/p>\n

While Pillen has\u00a0rejected all of the pending Liquor Control Commission regulatory changes\u00a0proposed under the former director, his staff has confirmed that he has no plans to shelve medical cannabis regulations.<\/p>\n

Bailey had chaired the Liquor Control Commission and served since 2014. Lowe had served on that commission since 2021. Retired Judge J. Michael Coffey joined the commission in June, a vacancy created after Pillen had previously requested the\u00a0resignation of a third commissioner, Harry Hoch Jr., in May.<\/p>\n

Oldenburg, Mueting and Coffey will review applications on metrics that have not been publicly released. Passing applicants need to average at least 70 out of 100. Applications were entered into a \u201clottery\u201d to randomly order submissions.<\/p>\n

Pillen opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana and has said Coffey, Mueting and Oldenburg\u2014all his appointees\u2014will keep Nebraska\u2019s medical cannabis system carefully regulated. He will appoint two commissioners to succeed Bailey and Lowe.<\/p>\n

Licensing lawsuit likely<\/h4>\n

The commission also faces a potential legal threat from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R). His office has threatened to sue the commission once the first licenses are issued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis office has long held that any attempt to license entities to dispense marijuana in Nebraska violates the federal ban [on marijuana],\u201d then-acting Deputy Solicitor General Zach Pohlman\u00a0testified at a March legislative hearing. \u201cIf the Medical Cannabis Commission tries to do so, the Attorney General\u2019s Office will challenge that action as preempted and unenforceable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office has repeated the stance multiple times, including in a separate citizen-led lawsuit seeking to overturn the voter-passed laws, in which Hilgers and Pohlman say it should be the AG\u2019s Office, not a citizen, to challenge the laws\u2019 constitutionality.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Hilgers declined to confirm last week whether this remained the position of the Attorney General\u2019s Office. A Pillen spokesperson, when asked last week whether the governor supported Hilgers\u2019s efforts, directed questions to the AG\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

A separate voter-passed law authorizes anyone with a health care practitioner\u2019s recommendation to possess up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis in Nebraska. It passed with 71 percent voter support last November, including majority support in every legislative district. Nebraska became the\u00a039th state\u00a0to authorize a medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n

\u2018We can get started today\u2019<\/h4>\n

Troy Burgess, one of the cultivator applicants, said Tuesday that once a cultivator begins growing marijuana, it could be five months before anything is sent to a product manufacturer (another license type) and another 4-6 weeks before it is ready for sale at a dispensary (another license type).<\/p>\n

\u201cThese patients need relief. We need to get it to them,\u201d Burgess told the commission. \u201cWe can get started today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0proposed regulations<\/a>\u00a0the commission is considering would cap the four licensed cultivators to\u00a0no more than 1,250 flowering plants<\/a>\u00a0each at any one time. With two expected harvests in the year, that\u2019s up to 10,000 harvestable plants, if all plants are grown successfully and are contaminant-free. The commission is anticipating an\u00a0initial\u00a0program to support about 20,000 patients.<\/p>\n

All products would need to meet strict testing requirements as set by the commission.<\/p>\n

A public hearing on the proposed regulations is set for 1 p.m. on October 15 at the Nebraska State Office Building. The hearing could last up to three hours, with testifiers limited to two or three minutes apiece.<\/p>\n

Written comments can be submitted up to 11:59 p.m. on October 15 by mail to the Nebraska Medical Commission, PO Box 95046, Lincoln, NE 68509-5046; by fax at 402-471-2814 or by email to mcc.contact@nebraska.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Integrity\u2019<\/h4>\n

Dominic Gillen of Bellevue, who has worked with advocates of medical cannabis for more than a decade in Nebraska, spoke to the commission Tuesday about \u201cintegrity\u201d and said the full weight of voter trust is on commissioners, not politicians behind the curtain \u201cpulling the strings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe integrity of a lawful election is being stolen by self-righteous politicians who beat their chests, trumpeting election integrity while quietly using you as a commission to undermine it,\u201d Gillen said.<\/p>\n

Many Nebraskans again urged the commission to approve of smoking, vaping and raw flower sales, which its proposed regulations reject. Angelica Marsaglia told commissioners they needed to implement the law, not rewrite it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat exceeds your authority, undermines the will of the voters and is unlawful,\u201d Marsaglia said.<\/p>\n

Gillen said Bailey was guilty of \u201chonoring his commitment to the voters\u201d and \u201cshould be hailed as a hero\u201d for standing up for voters, such as pushing for more cultivators and a higher plant cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe politicians have made their heartless choice,\u201d Gillen said. \u201cYou, on the other hand, still have one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Medical Cannabis Commission will meet next at 2 p.m. October 7 in Lincoln.<\/p>\n

What would the latest medical cannabis regulations mean?<\/h4>\n

If finalized, the state\u2019s medical cannabis regulations would license up to four cultivators, four product manufacturers, 12 dispensaries and 12 transporters. The guidelines would also establish a \u201cRecommending Health Care Practitioner Directory\u201d and also make Nebraska\u2019s program essentially a low-THC variety.<\/p>\n

Under the regulations, patients or caregivers could purchase up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis in a 30-day period, which is about 142 grams. Of that, patients could purchase no more than 5 grams of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from the same dispensary within 90 days. Delta-9 THC is the part of cannabis most associated with a \u201chigh.\u201d<\/p>\n

The regulations would allow no more than 12 medical cannabis dispensaries statewide,\u00a0arranged by judicial district. That could mean one dispensary in Douglas County (584,526 residents), Lancaster County (322,608 residents), Sarpy\/Cass Counties (217,202 residents) and Buffalo\/Hall Counties (112,979 residents), according to\u00a02020 census data.<\/p>\n

Dispensaries would not be able to sell smoking or vaping products or edibles of any kind. Oral tablets with a \u201cthin layer\u201d of flavoring to make the products easier to swallow could be sold.<\/p>\n

Under current law, a patient or qualified caregiver with a recommendation from any health care practitioner can legally possess up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis, in any form. But no licenses have yet been issued, so cannabis can\u2019t legally be purchased in Nebraska yet.<\/p>\n

The latest set of emergency regulations ends December 7. Commissioners say that set of regulations can be extended for one additional 90-day period.<\/p>\n

Once the Medical Cannabis Commission approves a more permanent set of regulations, commissioners will send the regulations to Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) for legal review and Gov. Jim Pillen (R) for final approval.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Nebraska Officials Miss Medical Marijuana Licensing Deadline As Regulators Resign<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cThe integrity of a lawful election is being stolen by self-righteous politicians who beat their chests, trumpeting election integrity while quietly using you as a commission to undermine it.\u201d By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner Supporters have questioned for months whether the voter-authorized Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission would meet its OctoberContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83590"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83591,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83590\/revisions\/83591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}