‘No transparency’: Nebraska medical cannabis advocates sound alarm ahead of commission mee
June 24, 2025
NEWSWATCH SEVEN AT FIVE. WE ARE JUST ONE WEEK OUT FROM WHEN RULES AND REGULATIONS REGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN THE STATE HAVE TO BE IN PLACE. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M QUANECIA FRASER BILL SCHAMMERT. THAT’S AFTER ABOUT 70% OF NEBRASKANS VOTED FOR THE BALLOT REFERENDUM IN NOVEMBER. THE NEW GROUP TO SET UP THOSE RULES, THE NEBRASKA MEDICAL CANNABIS COMMISSION, WILL MEET FOR A SECOND TIME ON THURSDAY AS KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S JOHN GRINVALDS REPORTS. IT’S STILL UNCLEAR WHAT THE REGULATIONS COULD LOOK LIKE. NO WEBSITES, NO EMAILS, NO DRAFTS OF REGULATIONS. THOSE ABSENCES MOUNT INTO WORRIES FOR ADVOCATES OF MEDICAL CANNABIS. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ACCOUNTABILITY IN THIS PROCESS. THERE’S NO TRANSPARENCY. KRISTA EGGERS HEADS THE GROUP THAT GOT MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON THE BALLOT BUT SAYS WITHOUT THE RIGHT INFO, PEOPLE WON’T BE ABLE TO WEIGH IN THAT THEIR VOICES YET AGAIN SEEM TO BE SILENCED ON THIS ISSUE RIGHT NOW, THIS IS THE ONLY INFORMATION THE PUBLIC HAS ACCESS TO. IT’S AN AGENDA WITH ALMOST A DOZEN ITEMS. THINGS LIKE DISCUSSING AND VOTING ON A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN VARIOUS OFFICES WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND THE COMMISSION. I REACHED OUT TO THE CHAIR OF THE MEDICAL CANNABIS COMMISSION, DOCTOR MONIKA OLDENBURG, TO SEE WHEN A DRAFT OF THOSE REGULATIONS MIGHT BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. HI, IS THIS DOCTOR OLDENBURG? SHE SAYS SHE WOULDN’T COMMENT ON THAT, BUT DOES SAY COMMISSIONERS HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD AGAINST THE CLOCK. GOVERNOR JIM PILLEN OFFICE A COPY OF A MEMORANDUM TODAY AND IT WOULD SEE THE COMMISSION WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AN AGENCY, EGGERS SAYS, WHOSE LEADERS HAVE HISTORICALLY SPOKEN OUT AGAINST MEDICAL CANNABIS. I DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT IN THIS PROCESS. I AM VERY CONCERNED. I FEEL THAT THE PEOPLE OF NEBRASKA DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER. THAT MEETING IS SET FOR THE STATE OFFICE BUILDING ON THURSDAY. EGGERS SAYS PEOPLE CAN SEND THEIR PUBLIC COMMENTS THROUGH THE LIQUO
‘No transparency’: Medical cannabis advocates sound alarm ahead of commission meeting
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Meeting could set rules and regulations on Thursday
Updated: 7:46 PM CDT Jun 24, 2025
The second meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission is set for Thursday at 10 a.m. in Lincoln, but what exactly the commissioners will discuss is anything but clear.No website to land on, no email addresses to contact and no drafts to review — the list of absences is mounting into worries for long-time medical marijuana advocate Crista Eggers.”There is absolutely no accountability in this process,” Eggers said. “There’s no transparency.” Eggers leads Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group that campaigned to put medical cannabis on the statewide ballot in November, when more than two-thirds of voters supported the measures. As of Tuesday afternoon, only the agenda was made public. No other documents, including the draft of rules and regulations, were available to view. Eggers said those regulations could be dozens of pages long, so without prior notice, people won’t be able to properly weigh in.”Their voices, yet again, seem to be silenced on this issue,” she said.Dr. Monica Oldenburg, who chairs the Medical Cannabis Commission, said she wouldn’t comment on when a draft of those regulations might be available to the public. But she said the commissioners have been working hard against the clock: the July 1st deadline when regulations must be in place.Another item the commission will discuss is a memorandum of agreement between the commission, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and the governor’s Policy Research Office. Gov. Jim Pillen’s office provided a copy of that memorandum to KETV, but at the time of writing, it wasn’t included as a material on the nebraska.gov public meeting calendar. If approved by the commission, the agreement would see commissioners working closely with DHHS, an agency whose leaders have historically spoken out against medical cannabis, Eggers said.”I do not feel confident in this process,” Eggers said. “I am very concerned. I feel that the people of Nebraska deserve so much better.”Eggers said she was told people can reach out to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to make a public comment in advance of the Medical Cannabis Commission meeting. That will take place in the Nebraska State Office Building on Thursday at 10 a.m.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
The second meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission is set for Thursday at 10 a.m. in Lincoln, but what exactly the commissioners will discuss is anything but clear.
No website to land on, no email addresses to contact and no drafts to review — the list of absences is mounting into worries for long-time medical marijuana advocate Crista Eggers.
“There is absolutely no accountability in this process,” Eggers said. “There’s no transparency.”
Eggers leads Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group that campaigned to put medical cannabis on the statewide ballot in November, when more than two-thirds of voters supported the measures. As of Tuesday afternoon, only the agenda was made public. No other documents, including the draft of rules and regulations, were available to view.
Eggers said those regulations could be dozens of pages long, so without prior notice, people won’t be able to properly weigh in.
“Their voices, yet again, seem to be silenced on this issue,” she said.
Dr. Monica Oldenburg, who chairs the Medical Cannabis Commission, said she wouldn’t comment on when a draft of those regulations might be available to the public. But she said the commissioners have been working hard against the clock: the July 1st deadline when regulations must be in place.
Another item the commission will discuss is a memorandum of agreement between the commission, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and the governor’s Policy Research Office. Gov. Jim Pillen’s office provided a copy of that memorandum to KETV, but at the time of writing, it wasn’t included as a material on the nebraska.gov public meeting calendar.
If approved by the commission, the agreement would see commissioners working closely with DHHS, an agency whose leaders have historically spoken out against medical cannabis, Eggers said.
“I do not feel confident in this process,” Eggers said. “I am very concerned. I feel that the people of Nebraska deserve so much better.”
Eggers said she was told people can reach out to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to make a public comment in advance of the Medical Cannabis Commission meeting. That will take place in the Nebraska State Office Building on Thursday at 10 a.m.
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