LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – The voter-approved Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission is banking on the Legislature to pass the state’s first-ever bill related to a medical cannabis program as a key step toward a regulated, functional system.

Lawmakers remain one round of voting away from passing Legislative Bill 1235, led by State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue as chair of the General Affairs Committee. The bill would give the regulatory commission the ability to set fees and raise revenue, while funding set aside in LB 1071’s state budget adjustments, expected to pass next week, would provide funding, for tasks such as hiring staff.

LB 1071 would give the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, which houses the Medical Cannabis Commission, an additional $1.38 million this fiscal year ending June 30 and $1 million for the next fiscal year.

On March 4, when LB 1235 advanced for the first time, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana celebrated the Legislature, noting the shift by an elected body that had “stood in the way” of a decade of fight from patients, caregivers and advocates.

“Change is happening,” the organization said at the time. “It may be slow. It may seem insignificant, but it’s happening.”

‘Growing pains’

Medical Cannabis Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna, interim commission chair, described LB 1235 this week as a “first step” to dedicated staff who could help the commission have a “viable” program.

“We’re going through a lot of growing pains ourselves, and not having any staff has been part of that problem,” Mueting said Monday. “Hopefully, this will help us get on the right track with that.”

Commissioner Jim Elworth of Nebraska City described the funding situation as one of many “hurdles” the commission has faced, but he hopes the process will soon be “accelerated.”

In the meantime, some staff from the Liquor Control Commission have performed dual roles. The state’s three liquor commissioners jointly sit on the Medical Cannabis Commission, including Elworth. He thanked Liquor Commission staff for their help.

Proposal specifics

The commission did not formally support or oppose LB 1235, but lawmakers made clear the measure was introduced on the commission’s behalf. The legislation would have initially expanded commission authority to regulate patients, caregivers and medical providers, authority that was not contemplated in the ballot measure 67% of voters passed in 2024 when creating the commission.

In that same election, 71% of voters legalized possession of up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis for patients and their caregivers with a health care practitioner’s recommendation.

Holdcroft stripped out most of LB 1235, leaving four medical cannabis parts:

• Paying commissioners a salary of $12,500 for their work.
• Creating a dedicated state cash fund to collect legislative funding, fees, gifts, grants and other monies collected by the commission, which can be used for medical cannabis regulation.
• Authorizing the commission to set fees for applications of up to $50,000.
• Requiring applicants for registered medical cannabis establishment licenses to submit fingerprints for a background check, which the commission was already doing.

State budget adjustments are expected to pass and be sent to Gov. Jim Pillen next week, who proposed funding increases for the Medical Cannabis Commission in LB 1071.

Commissioners decided to again delay discussing an application timeframe Monday for transporters, product manufacturers or dispensaries until the Legislature adjourns in mid-April, to know whether LB 1235, LB 1071 and the other budget bill, LB 1072, pass.

A ‘viable’ program?

Industry leaders, including Michael Johnson of Lincoln, who had been a cannabis executive in Oregon and Colorado for more than 10 years, urged the commissioners to reconsider some “poison pills” in rules and regulations proposed by the commission.

Those regulations include restricting what types of medical cannabis products could be sold, requiring patients to get an in-person written recommendation from an in-state health care practitioner to access soon-to-be-licensed dispensaries and setting various standards for tracking and overseeing parts of the medical cannabis supply chain.

Johnson said a requirement for testing cannabis products but a lengthy time for getting in-state labs online and certified could risk a “chicken or the egg challenge.”

“What we’re risking right now is a complete breakdown in the supply chain, unless there’s some grace period that’s built into that,” Johnson said.

Johnson encouraged the commission to form an advisory group, including of business leaders and doctors, who could help interpret the rules and implications. He noted physicians won’t know what products are on the shelf or when new items are added once the program is online.

Lanette Richards of Monument Prevention Coalition in Scottsbluff, who has argued there is no such thing as “medical cannabis,” thanked commissioners for “working diligently” for safe rules and guidelines. She said many have seen the harms of recreational marijuana.

“We appreciate you so much in looking at what is safe and healthy for our communities,” Richards said.

Provider protections proposal

Crista Eggers of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana also urged the commission to take formal steps to support a separate bill, LB 933, that she said is “absolutely vital” for the regulations.

LB 933, from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, would protect health care practitioners who recommend medical cannabis from civil, criminal or disciplinary action “solely” for recommending the medicine, but not if the provider violates professional ethics or standards of care.

Commissioners told Eggers they wouldn’t take formal steps to support the bill, she said, and Eggers argued the lack of protections would leave the commission-required physician registry empty.

Without it, Eggers argued, “this program can never get started.”

Commissioner Bud Synhorst of Lincoln asked Eggers whether there were similar protections for other professionals, to which Eggers noted some medications prescribed under the Controlled Substances Act. She said the protections would be the “most conservative” nationwide, and that in 17 other states with only medical cannabis, not recreational, 16 have such protections.

Debate on Cavanaugh’s LB 933 began Wednesday evening, for about one hour, and resumes Friday.

‘Delays matter’

Since 2017, Eggers has said she knows of at least 41 advocates who have died while waiting for access to the proposed medicine. She told the Examiner that since 2022, another nine individuals have reached out telling her they intended to take their life, many citing intense suffering or hopelessness.

Eggers told the commission how a stranger last week reached out and described being in pain and feeling “completely hopeless.” The person told Eggers they were thinking of ending their life, and Eggers made a wellness call to local authorities.

A few days later, authorities told Eggers the person had died.

“For years, I’ve carried stories like this. To feel as if you are bearing the suffering of people across the state is a burden that I would never wish on anyone,” Eggers said Monday. “But today … I believe you now share in that responsibility. With that responsibility comes a duty to ensure that this program can actually function.”

She continued: “Delays matter. They carry a real cost, and for some Nebraskans, that cost is measured in their suffering, but for some, it’s measured in their actual lives.”

Mueting told Eggers she was “sorry for everyone’s pain and suffering.” She reminded the crowd about 988, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Angelica Marsaglia, a Lincoln mother of four who has a few diseases and illnesses with difficult symptoms, said she appreciated Mueting’s comments and understands the feeling of hopelessness.

But Marsaglia said advocates were seeking “actual change.”

“It feels like we are in a cycle where we continue to ask the same thing over and over just to be breadcrumbed along the way,” Marsaglia said. “It’s not fair to Nebraskans.”

‘Light at the end of the tunnel’

Also Monday, the commission licensed its fourth medical cannabis cultivator, awarding a final license to Dustin Krajewski of Meadowlark Medicinals LLC. The commission’s regulations authorize up to four cultivator licenses, unless commissioners vote to increase that in a given year.

License renewals for the first two of four commission-licensed cannabis cultivators are due by next month. Commissioners are sending out renewal applications this week and waiving any sanctions for 60 days to give time to complete the request.

Commissioners are also working on responding to public comments on their proposed rules and regulations after a Feb. 26 hearing.

Commissioner J. Michael Coffey of Omaha, a retired district judge, said delays had not been intentional but “more or less a practical hurdle we had to get over, which appears there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Added Mueting right after: “Fingers crossed.”

The commission’s next scheduled meeting is 1 p.m. April 13 at the Nebraska State Office Building in Lincoln.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.

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