[[{“value”:”
LINCOLN — The ballot initiatives to legalize and regulate medical marijuana in Nebraska have officially been certified for the November ballot in the face of a local lawsuit and a statewide investigation into whether enough of the signatures were valid.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Friday that the campaign from Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana officially garnered nearly 90,000 valid signatures as of Friday. It comes the same day that Evnen must finalize the Nov. 5 general election ballot, and one year to the date from when the signature-gathering campaign kicked off its third attempt in 2023.
Nebraska AG announces investigation into ‘several thousand signatures’ on 2024 petitions
Evnen said an ongoing investigation from Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ Office “has uncovered serious questions” about the signature collection process for the petitions. At least one signature gatherer has been charged with a felony.
“I am certifying the petitions because, at this point, they appear to have met the threshold signature requirements,” Evnen said in a statement. “That could change in light of the Attorney General’s investigation. Both cannabis petitions will appear on the ballot, but a court could order later that the initiatives be thrown out.”
Crista Eggers, statewide campaign manager for the medical cannabis effort, thanked Hilgers and local officials for looking into any irregularities and working to protect the integrity of the public initiative process.
“Circulators are held to an extremely high standard and are required to strictly follow all legal requirements for collecting signatures,” Eggers said in a statement. “Any circulators caught violating the law should be held accountable for their actions.”
What the petitions do
Both 2024 petitions would define cannabis as all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis, including marijuana, hashish and concentrated cannabis, but not hemp as defined in state law.
One effort, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act, would legalize possessing, manufacturing, distributing, delivering and dispensing cannabis for medical purposes and would create the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to oversee the law.
If enacted, the commission would need to establish criteria to accept or deny applications for registered cannabis establishments by July 1, 2025. By Oct. 1, 2025, it would need to begin granting such applications.
State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln addresses a group at Duffy’s Tavern during the launch of the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana’s 2024 petition on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, on Lincoln, Neb. To her left is the campaign’s manager, Crista Eggers, and former State Sen. Adam Morfeld, who she co-chairs the group with. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
The other petition, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act, would set an allowable amount of medical cannabis at five ounces; would exempt patients and caregivers from using or assisting someone else in using the cannabis; and would require a written recommendation from a health care practitioner, as well as a legal guardian or parent in the case of minors, prior to prescription.
Evnen first announced that the campaign had surpassed the signature threshold to qualify for the ballot on Aug. 30 but had said some signatures were still being counted statewide.
Initiative petitions require valid signatures from at least 7% of registered Nebraska voters (about 86,500), including from at least 5% of voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.
The campaign submitted more than 114,000 signatures in July for each of its two petitions. Evnen’s office confirmed that nearly 90,000 signatures were validated for each petition, both exceeding the 5% signature threshold in 52 counties.
“Today marks a momentous day for the patients of Nebraska, who are one step closer to safe and regulated medical cannabis access,” Eggers said. “We are grateful for all of the Nebraskans who have not only supported us but been the heart and soul of this fight.”
Legal challenge, investigation pending
The campaign faces at least one local legal challenge, filed Wednesday by John Kuehn of Heartwell, a veterinarian and rancher who previously served in the Nebraska Legislature and was appointed to the State Board of Health by then-Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Kuehn is arguing Evnen’s office has yet to provide access to the petition pages collected statewide pursuant to a public records request for an independent review of the campaign’s signatures, as county officials have now certified through Evnen.
The lawsuit asks the Lancaster County District Court to either prevent Nebraskans from voting on the measures or prevent Evnen and other constitutional officers from certifying the results of those measures.
Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Nebraska’s medical marijuana ballot measures
Kuehn’s arguments allege the group did not gather enough valid signatures, that the measures would be an unlawful delegation of power from the Legislature’s authority to regulate and alleging the law couldn’t take effect because federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal Schedule I drug.
As of Friday morning, the case before Judge Susan Strong had not been scheduled.
As of February, 38 states allowed cannabis for medical use, and 24 of those states have also legalized recreational marijuana use, according to the Pew Research Center. Washington, D.C., has also legalized both.
In May, the federal government officially began what could be a lengthy process to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug, on the same level as heroin or LSD, to a Schedule III drug, on the same level as Tylenol with codeine or ketamine.
Hilgers, who opposed medical marijuana as a state lawmaker, announced the investigation with local officials Friday morning into alleged signature fraud on the medical marijuana petitions. Hall County officials criminally charged one Grand Island man as part of that process.
Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet confirmed to the Nebraska Examiner that the numbers Evnen used did not include those allegedly fraudulent signatures.
“They were flagged as fraudulent and rejected and not counted toward those totals from the get-go,” Overstreet said Friday morning.
Hilgers has led a statewide campaign as attorney general against delta-8, which contains THC, the compound in the cannabis plant most commonly associated with getting a person high.
Third time for the campaign
The cannabis campaign began in 2019 after legislative efforts had stalled. Organizers submitted enough signatures for their first attempt in 2020, but the solo petition was thrown off the ballot.
At that time, the Nebraska Supreme Court determined legalization and regulation were two distinct and separate subjects, violating the Nebraska Constitution’s single subject rule. Kuehnis arguing the petitions, now divided into regulation and legalization, again each violate that rule.
Crista Eggers, center, signs an affidavit pledging that the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign had gathered enough signatures for Nebraska’s fall election. Eggers is joined by her husband, Easton, and sons Carsten, 11, and Colton, 9, from left. July 3, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
In 2022, the campaign tried again but didn’t get enough signatures.
In September 2023, the group returned with the two separate petitions and approached this go around as the third and final campaign cycle, banking on success.
Opponents of medical marijuana, including Gov. Jim Pillen, have often argued that access to medical marijuana should only be allowed if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves of it. Pillen has said legalizing marijuana “poses demonstrated harms to our children.”
Ricketts, now a U.S. senator, made national headlines in 2021 as governor for stating that if voters legalized marijuana, “you’re gonna kill your kids.”
Eggers helped organize the petitions on behalf of her son, who has epilepsy and severe seizures. When the campaign launched in September 2023, she pushed back and said it was daily “horrific seizures” that were killing her child.
Other 2024 ballot measures
In addition to the medical cannabis ballot measures, Evnen confirmed all four other ballot measures certified for the general election ballot will also head to the Nov. 5 election.
Paid sick leave law — Enact a new state law that would require businesses with 20 or fewer employees to fund at least five paid sick days each year for full-time employees. Larger businesses would need to fund at least seven sick days per full-time employee each year. An hour of sick leave would be earned after every 30 hours worked.
Fetal viability abortion constitutional amendment — Codify a right to abortion until “fetal viability” as determined by a health care provider, with a later exception for the mother’s health.
First trimester abortion constitutional amendment — Prohibit abortions after the first trimester or pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Future restrictions would be allowed.
Partial repeal of Legislative Bill 1402 — Repeal the $10 million scholarship program, enacted earlier this year, that the state treasurer oversees to distribute to students to attend K-12 private schools.
The abortion-related and schools-related petitions all faced legal challenges before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Justices unanimously rejected those arguments in Friday rulings.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
“}]] The ballot initiatives to legalize and regulate medical marijuana, have officially been certified for the November 2024 ballot. Read More