Lincoln, NE: Legislators on the General Affairs Committee amended and passed legislation, LB 677, regulating the distribution of medical cannabis to authorized patients. Over 70 percent of Nebraskans approved a pair of citizen initiatives in November, legalizing the use and dispensing of cannabis to those with a physician’s recommendation.
Changes to LB 677, which had previously stalled in the Committee, include prohibiting patients from smoking botanical cannabis and imposing a limited list of qualifying conditions. Neither restriction exists in the voter-approved ballot measures. As amended, LB 677 also reduces the amount of cannabis patients may possess from five ounces to no more than two ounces. Lawmakers also added new rules narrowly defining which healthcare practitioners can issue medical cannabis authorizations and under what circumstances.
The amended measure now heads to the floor for further debate. The 2025 state legislative session is scheduled to end in June.
Following the passage of the initiatives, the state’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the election results. Although a district court judge rejected the suit, the AG is appealing the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court. A separate lawsuit filed on behalf of a former state senator is also pending. That suit argues that the state’s medical cannabis measures should be preempted by federal law, a position the AG also endorses.
Additional information is available from Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.