Medical Marijuana initiative passes

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - On Election Night, the people of Nebraska overwhelmingly showed support for medical marijuana and the regulation of medical marijuana.

After years of fighting to get on the ballot, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana finally get a victory. Nebraskans went to the polls and voted in favor of initiative 437 and 438. Initiative 437 garnered over 70% of votes, and 438 garnered 67%.

"I feel like I have a little bit of the weight of the world off of me that I have been carrying for a number of years," said Christa Eggers, campaign manager of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. "So I, I finally gotten some sleep. I'll tell ya on Election Night, I slept four hours straight uninterrupted and I have not done that for years and years."

Eggers had been on the frontlines and heavily involved with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. After failing to make the ballot in 2020 and 2022. The third time was the charm.

"Tuesday night, to see those results come in which were overwhelmingly supportive of this; you know it felt amazing," said Eggers. "As a campaign we were so proud to finally play a part in having Nebraskans have the right to vote and have their voices heard on this issue."

With the initiative passing, Nebraska is the 40th state to legalize medical marijuana. But with the trial over fraudulent signatures still ongoing, that status might change.

"As a father of a son with Epilepsy and who how have worked on this for such a long time, the answer to that is I think the people of Nebraska have spoken," said Dominic Gillen, Bellevue resident. "When you're talking 614,000 votes, you know votes on the first initiative and 580 some thousand on the second initiative. And if you look at the numbers and you look at across the state, it's not just here in eastern Nebraska. The people voted for it, 71 out of the 93 counties voted in favor of this, that is statewide."

Gillen's son has been dealing with multiple seizures since he was 11 years-old and has always had difficulty with medicine available to him; He is now 22 years-old.

Eggers said in the coming weeks the trial should provide more clarity; and the true celebration comes on Dec. 2 when ballots are finalized. If upheld, the implementation phase will begin January 2025.