More than a year after voters overwhelmingly approved medical cannabis in Nebraska, the state is nowhere near having a functioning program.Some state lawmakers and cannabis advocates say the latest blow landed Tuesday night, when a bill offering protections to healthcare practitioners who recommend medical cannabis faltered on the legislative floor.”If there are no practitioners, there are no patients in this program,” Crista Eggers with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said. “What seems to be the goal of this is to make sure Nebraska never has a functioning program.”The stories of families fighting for a medical cannabis program stack up every day.”His seizures happen all the time. He’s probably he’s having probably hundreds a day,” Dominic Gillen said. “We thought we were the only family. And we’ve come to find out that there are thousands of Nebraskans that are in need of this.”Gillen’s son Will has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. So does Matthew Bronson’s son Teddy. Bronson is a disabled veteran and carries chronic pain with him every day.”I want to take something or use something that will help with the pain, but not impair me to the point where I cannot give aid to my child,” Bronson said.Both families celebrated when Nebraskans overwhelmingly greenlit a medical cannabis program.”That means 71% of the state says, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s try it,'” Bronson said.But they say lawmakers and other state officials hung the program out to dry since 2024.”The legislature has not fulfilled the real intent of the voters,” Gillen said.Sen. John Cavanaugh championed LB933, aiming to protect healthcare practitioners who recommend cannabis, a Schedule 1 substance.”Not a single doctor in Nebraska has made a recommendation because they are afraid that the retribution by the attorney general or other law enforcement against their license,” Cavanaugh said.A number of amendments, including one from Sen. Brian Hardin, throttled the bill on Tuesday night. Hardin called LB933 a “recreational marijuana bill masquerading as a medical marijuana bill” in an interview with KETV on Wednesday.That means practitioners still won’t have legal protections this year, something Cavanaugh said will be chilling to the program facing a critical attorney general.”You cannot have a medical cannabis program if no doctors are able to make a recommendation for their patients,” Cavanaugh said.Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ office said on Wednesday that he is “responsible for ensuring the safety of patients.”” is charged with reviewing complaints as to medical professionals who violate the terms of their licenses,” the statement said. “We take that obligation very seriously, and the office will look at any medical professional who has been alleged to have violated the conditions of their license.”Every other state with a medical-only cannabis program has protections for practitioners. Nebraska”It feels like a slap in the face,” Bronson said. “There’s no nice way of saying it.”Bronson and Gillen said they’ll continue to advocate for what they say is necessary for many Nebraskan patients.But they say they’re uncertain about the future as Nebraska continues to chart its own course. The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission has missed deadlines, restricted forms of cannabis patients can use, and capped the total number of plants cultivators can grow to just 1,250. That’s a total of 5,000 hemp plants across the four licensed cultivators.”What I’ve heard from people who want to get licenses, they’re already saying that that won’t be enough,” Gillen said.The Medical Cannabis Commission did not respond for comment on Wednesday. But it will hold its next public meeting next Monday at 1 p.m. in the State Office Building in Lincoln.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |