LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The deadline for the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to start granting cultivator licenses is on Oct. 1. That is impossible now after Gov. Jim Pillen asked Commissioners Bruce Bailey and Kim Lowe to resign from the Liquor Control and Medical Cannabis Commissions.

On Tuesday, the commission held its final September meeting in the smallest hearing room available. Despite the setting, the public made their voices heard.

Commenters urged commissioners to follow the law, maintain integrity, and resist pressure from the governor or attorney general.

“The integrity of a lawful election is being stolen by self-righteous politicians who beat their chests, trumpeting election integrity, while quietly using you as a commission to undermine it,” Dominic Gillen said.

With cultivator licenses not being approved until at least the next meeting, one grower said timing couldn’t be more of an issue.

“If you guys require us to come from seeds, you’re looking at 20 weeks before I can have a harvest. That’s five months that nothing will happen,” said Troy Burgess a cultivator applicant. “So if you approve us today, it’s five months before I can get anything to our processor.”

Burgess said even after processing it could take six an additional six weeks before patients could receive medicine. That would push it to seven to eight months from time of planting.

Burgess also pointed to Iowa, where he says only about 1% of people use dispensaries, with many turning to out-of-state sources or the black market.

Burgess and other commenters believe patients should have access to flower and vape products, which are banned in the current emergency regulations.

The next meeting, when license decisions will be made, is Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.

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