Medical marijuana regulatory bill likely dead in Nebraska after committee splits vote
By Jake Anderson, Alex McLoon
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LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — The Committee of Government Affairs in the Nebraska Legislature failed to send a bill to regulate medical marijuana to the floor for debate.
That likely means the bill is dead for the session.
At issue were two points of contention that eight committee members couldn’t agree on: Blocking patients with PTSD from accessing medical cannabis and removing the flower from the cannabis plant, which would ban smoking cannabis.
Advocates and sponsors of the bill said that it guts what voters approved last fall.
State senators say that since the ballot measure was self-enacting, if nothing gets passed this session, and there’s no funding for the regulatory commission, it could leave the state in a gray area because having five ounces with a prescription is now legal.
“It deserves its day on the floor. I think it deserves for lawmakers who represent the people to talk about this, to talk about the overwhelming support,” Crista Eggers with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said.
Lawmakers have 25 days this session if they want a say in implementing voter-imposed medical cannabis.
“Very important to get something on the floor. We don’t want this to be the wild west where people can start growing, you know, marijuana in their front yard and doing what they want with it, State Sen. Ben Hansen said.
Hansen supports the bill and told KETV’s Alex McLoon he would file a motion to try to “bring it back to life” this session.
The pull motion allows lawmakers to bring back a bill if there are enough votes to revisit.
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