OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis. The legislature, though, has to figure out the structure for sales. Several state senators are going back to the voters to get their input on that.

• State Senators John Cavanaugh, Rick Holdcroft, and Ben Hansen are hosting town halls in Omaha and Lincoln to hear from those who are advocating for LB677.
• Lb677 is the bill aimed at identifying rules and regulations for medical cannabis.
• “It’s so sad at this late stage in the session that it still hadn’t come out of committee—that the people are necessarily out here again telling their stories. These have been talked about in many committee hearings over the years, and it’s just time—time to get it done.”

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis. The legislature, though, has to figure out the structure for sales. Several state senators are going back to the voters to get their input on that.

This past November, 70% of Nebraska voters voted to approve ballot initiatives 437 and 438—bills to legalize and regulate medical cannabis.

Now, in this legislative session, the bill aimed at identifying rules and regulations for medical cannabis is finally out of committee and headed to the full Unicameral.

I spoke to a few advocates who attended the town hall on Sunday. Some are upset with a compromise that includes restrictions on the medical conditions, the amount of cannabis sold, and bars it from being smoked.

“Those concessions directly affect the petition drive that we had and the vote that we had on this, and it’s basically undermining the will of the people,” said Lia Post, a medical cannabis advocate.

“And I just think that it’s so sad at this late stage in the session that it still hadn’t come out of committee—that the people are necessarily out here again telling their stories. These have been talked about in many committee hearings over the years, and it’s just time—time to get it done,” said Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek, a medical cannabis advocate.

Several people shared personal stories of how medical cannabis would benefit them.

Afterwards, State Senator Ben Hansen told me he thinks out of the 49 senators who will vote on this bill, he can get 33 to vote yes and get this bill to pass.

“I think I’m hopefully encouraging some of those senators who are on the fence about this bill to listen to those personal stories and kind of think of it more not just from their head but also from their heart. And so I think this kind of brought the heart part back in,” said Senator Hansen.

Hansen says LB677 will likely go on the floor shortly after budget hearings wrap up in the next two weeks.

The bill needs to pass by June 2nd, before the legislative session ends.

The last town hall will be hosted in Lincoln at Southeast Community College on Monday starting at 5 p.m.