Nebraska Medical Cannabis Legalization Initiatives Qualify for Ballot

Nebraska voters will have the chance to make their state the 39th in the nation to legalize medical cannabis in this November’s election.

While Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office hasn’t officially certified two petitions sponsored by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) just yet, he announced Aug. 30 that the statutory measures have met signature requirements and will qualify for the general election ballot once local officials complete the verification and certification process.

The “Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection” initiative petition—which aims to establish a doctor-patient system for medical cannabis that will protect patients from criminal arrests and prosecution for possessing up to 5 ounces of cannabis—has collected 89,051 valid signatures and has met the 5% distribution requirement in at least 51 counties, according to Evnen.

The “Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation” initiative petition—which intends to create the framework for a regulated industry, including establishing a commission to oversee a commercial marketplace with licensed businesses no later than Oct. 1, 2025—has collected 89,005 valid signatures and has met the 5% distribution requirement in at least 51 counties, according to Evnen.

While NMM only needed roughly 87,000 valid signatures per petition to land on the ballot (a threshold based on 7% of registered voters in the state), state law requires county election officials to continue verifying the remaining signatures unless the petitions meet the 110% threshold for signature counts.

“Our office is providing this update to keep voters informed of where county election offices are in the signature verification process,” Evnen said Friday in a news release. “Election workers are checking every voter’s signature on the remaining petitions, and we will have petitions verified before the Sept. 13 deadline to certify the November ballot.”

NMM submitted roughly 1140,000 signatures for each petition July 3 in the group’s third campaign attempt to place a medical cannabis legalization initiative before voters. Campaign Manager Crista Eggers, a cannabis advocate whose 9-year-old son battles severe epileptic seizures, runs the 2024 campaign with state Sen. Anna Wishart and former state Sen. Adam Morfeld.

“After years of hard work, we are beyond excited that Nebraskans will finally have the opportunity to have their voices heard on this issue in November,” Eggers said in a release on Friday. “Our fight has been long, it has been hard, but we have never given up. Today, we celebrate that very soon, patients in this state will have access to medical cannabis treatment.”

NMM circulated two separate petitions to reform Nebraska’s cannabis laws because of the state’s single-subject rule, which prevented the group’s 2020 attempt to land on the ballot. Four years ago, NMM also met the signature-gather requirements. Still, the Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the certified measure that September, when justices ruled that the initiative dealt with two subjects: legalization and setting up a system to cultivate, sell and distribute products.

During NMM’s second legalization campaign in 2022, the group faced a financial setback when one primary donor died in a plane crash and another was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Canvassers fell short of collecting enough signatures to meet the state and county requirements that year.

Wishart, who has also sponsored legislation to legalize medical cannabis in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature since 2021, said on social medial Friday that she looks forward to the final certification from Evnen’s office in the coming days.

“We did it,” she wrote. “Medical cannabis is on its way onto the ballot. After six years of hard work, we are excited that Nebraskans will finally have the opportunity to have their voices heard on the ballot in November to legalize medical marijuana for themselves, their families, and neighbors who are in need of relief.”

Roughly 70% of Nebraskans support legalizing medical cannabis, according to a February 2024 poll conducted for Neilan Strategy Group, the Nebraska Examiner reported.