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LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission could be granted broader power to regulate patients, caregivers and health care practitioners than voters approved for it in 2024 under a new legislative bill.
Legislative Bill 1235, from the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee, would allow the commission to write regulations around the “Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act,” which 71% of voters approved in 2024. The law voters approved allows patients to possess up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis with an in-state or out-of-state doctor’s recommendation.
Voters, with 67% approval, created the Medical Cannabis Commission with a second ballot measure in 2024 — the “Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act.” It gives the commission “exclusive” regulatory authority over licensed cannabis establishments.
State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, who is leading LB 1235 as committee chair and is carrying the bill on behalf of the commission, described the proposal as providing additional regulatory “structure” for the commission. Of the additional powers being proposed, he said he’s “not real familiar.”
“But, apparently, that’s a good thing to have, I mean, as a commission,” he said. “I’m not sure why that was left out of the referendum, but that’s about really all I know about that part of it.”
Holdcroft’s four fellow Republican committee members in the officially nonpartisan Legislature cosponsored the bill, allowing it to come from the committee rather than one senator. The committee’s three Democratic members did not sign on. The bill would need five votes to advance from committee.
Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which led the 2024 ballot measures, disagrees with Holdcroft’s approach. She said the bill is “extremely concerning” and would strip protections from patients who legally possess medical cannabis and consolidate power in a governor-appointed commission that advocates have pushed back against for months.
“This bill forces us to face reality that our own children and most others will have protections ripped away from them,” said Eggers, a mother who seeks access to medical cannabis for her 11-year-old son, Colton, who has epilepsy and severe seizures.
“Although there are some provisions of this bill that we would support, we do not believe this is a good-faith effort,” Eggers continued. “Currently, as written, we will seek to see it fail.”
‘Failing patients’
The commission has leaned toward a small, tightly regulated program. Regulators have so far gone through multiple rounds of temporary regulations.
Under the latest version of commission regulations, dispensaries could not sell smokes, vapes, most edibles and products with high tetrahydrocannabinol concentrations. Cultivators could only have so many flowering plants at once.
Physicians would need to sign up for the commission’s program and complete additional education to stay in. Patients would only be able to access commission-licensed dispensaries through one of these licensed in-state physicians.
Under LB 1235, patients and caregivers, as well as physicians, would need to pay an application fee and follow the commission rules if they want to legally possess medical cannabis in Nebraska at all. Nebraskans who turned to other states for the medicine in the meantime would legally be left behind.
The Holdcroft-led bill, by giving power over the Patient Protection Act, also could lead to more restrictions, such as limiting availability to people with qualifying conditions alluded to but not listed in LB 1235.
Eggers said families and advocates fought for patient and caregiver protections. Advocates have continued to push for similar protections for physicians because many patients have said that few, if any, Nebraska physicians have recommended cannabis since the laws took effect in December 2024.
Eggers pointed to those challenges and said the commission has been “failing patients and bowing to the political pressures from our governor and attorney general.”
Medicinal vs. recreational
The commission is still in the process of writing regulations. Three cultivator licenses have been issued, but regulators are still setting up a seed-tosale tracking system before growing begins. Such a system would be provided under law and possibly funded via LB 1235.
The state is still likely months away from licensing dispensaries and hosting its first legal sales. Without the commission’s licensing system, cannabis can’t legally be purchased in the state.
LB 1235 would help the commission’s regulatory mission by allowing it to collect fees and fines. A funding mechanism has been an important component for Eggers, Holdcroft and other lawmakers.
Under LB 1235, medical cannabis could also be subject to sales taxes, at a statewide rate of 5.5 cents per $1. The proceeds would go to property tax relief.
