The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission approved emergency regulations that would set the parameters for the creation and distribution of medical cannabis in the state at the body’s second-ever meeting on Thursday, June 26.Seeing those emergency rules as more of stopgap ahead of the July 1, commissioners formed a subcommittee which will take in public comment and work to tweak them in the coming weeks.The commission gave members of the public until July 15 to email their feedback on the regulations to lcc.frontdesk@nebraska.gov.”There’s some real substance,” Crista Eggers, the head of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said. “I believe that we are moving in a forward direction. We’re not there. There’s a long ways to go, but a good foundation today.”PREVIOUS COVERAGE: ‘No transparency’: Medical cannabis advocates sound alarm ahead of commission meetingOn three separate occasions during the more than four-hour meeting, commissioners shuffled into a separate room for an executive session. It was a gathering marked more by the emptiness of their table than by discussion at it.Medical cannabis advocates expressed concerns over what substances would be prohibited by these rules, including the flower and most edible forms of cannabis. That’s a change from the ballot language, approved by more than two-thirds of voters in November.”They do clearly violate Statute 437, the Patient Protection Act,” Eggers said. “And so I believe that if there are not changes made during this 30-day period where they’re going to be taken comment and consideration and, and hopefully amending some of these rules and regulations, I do have concerns that in the future litigation can be brought.”The rules would also limit the number of dispensaries: one per each of the state’s 12 judicial districts.Some commissioners voiced their frustration over the cash-strapped nature of the new body during the meeting.”You’re asking us to do something without funds, without the ability to do it,” Bruce Bailey, a member of the commission, said after the commission was told it would have to post the regulations on its website.RELATED COVERAGE: Judge dismisses lawsuit asking to block state’s medical marijuana lawThe commission has no website, and Bailey said making one through the state vendor would cost $70,000.Gov. Jim Pillen would still have to adopt the emergency regulations for them to take effect. The commission’s next meeting is set for Aug. 4. NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |