Medical cannabis prevails at Nebraska’s ballot box, but fate depends on legal challenges
Supporters of medical cannabis joined together in support of two related ballot measures for the 2024 general election at a public hearing for Initiative Measures 437 and 438 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. Among those in the photo are Dominic Gillen, far left, and Shelley Gillen, left front row, who is kneeling by their son, Will Gillen. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — A majority of Nebraskans voted Tuesday to embrace legalizing and regulating medical cannabis, though the final say will likely be up to the courts, not the ballot box.
Both Initiative Measures 437 and 438, to legalize and regulate medical cannabis, had a wide margin of support statewide. The measures came from the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign. This was the campaign's third attempt to reach the ballot.
Whether medical cannabis becomes legal in the state post-election, however, depends on the outcome of legal challenges currently playing out in Lancaster County District Court.
District Judge Susan Strong is weighing legal arguments following a four-day trial about the validity of tens of thousands of already validated signatures on each measure's petition for ballot access. Her decision isn't expected for at least two weeks
Strong rejected an attempt to prevent counting or making public Tuesday's election results
Side with Kuehn and Evnen outright, voiding the election results.
Side with Kuehn and Evnen but allow the ballot sponsors to try to cure the "invalidity" of enough signatures in a second phase of the trial, after the election.
Side with the ballot sponsors outright, ending the lower court trial, which would leave the election results intact.
Strong and attorneys involved in the case have acknowledged that no matter who prevails, the decision is likely to be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Eggers, whose 10-year-old son, Colton, has epilepsy and severe seizures, said there is still work ahead. The campaign remains confident it will prevail in its court fight, Eggers said, and hopes that someday soon, patients and loved ones will find hope and strength from a new treatment option.
"The day that that happens, that's when we know that we did our jobs," Eggers said. "It's not over, a lot ahead of us, but I think tonight speaks that Nebraskans have had their voices heard once and for all on this issue."
Third try for ballot measure
Multiple legislative efforts, including some led by one of the ballot sponsors, State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, had previously stalled, moving the fight to the ballot box.
The campaign started in 2019 for the 2020 ballot with a constitutional amendment that the Nebraska Supreme Court ultimately ruled was too broad, in violation of the Nebraska Constitution.
For the 2022 ballot, sponsors returned with separate petitions to legalize and regulate the drug, but they fell short of gathering enough signatures, in part after a major donor's death.
The 2024 attempt is the furthest Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has gotten.
The U.S. Department of Justice has formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which could aid future federal approval.
Thirty-eight states have legalized medical marijuana, while 24 of them, plus Washington, D.C., have also legalized recreational use. The other states, including Nebraska, allow limited access to cannabis products with little to no THC, according to the Pew Research Center
Nebraska's constitutional officers will meet Dec. 2 to certify Tuesday's election results. Legal challenges can continue after that date.
