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Nebraska Cannabis Legalization Initiative (2020)

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Nebraska Cannabis Legalization Initiative
Flag of Nebraska.png
Election date
November 3, 2020
Topic
Marijuana
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Nebraska Cannabis Legalization Initiative was not on the ballot in Nebraska as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.[1][2]

This measure would have given any person in the state the right to use any plant in the genus Cannabis L.[1]


Text of measure

Object clause

The object clause would have been as follows:[1]

“ The object of the Nebraska Cannabis Initiative Petition is to amend the Constitution of Nebraska by adding a new section to Article XV which states that any person in the State of Nebraska has the right to use any plant in the genus Cannabis L. and any of the parts of such plant in the State of Nebraska.[3] ”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article XV, Nebraska Constitution

The measure would have added a section to Article XV of the Nebraska Constitution. The following underlined text would be added:[1]

(1) Any person in the State of Nebraska has the right to use any plant in the genus Cannabis L. and any of the parts of such plant in the State of Nebraska.

(2) The right to use any plant in the genus Cannabis L. and any of the parts of such plant shall include, (a) noncommercial personal possession, consumption, production, and distribution by persons twenty one years of age and older, (b) commercial possession, consumption, production, and distribution, and (c) noncommercial personal possession and consumption by a person under twenty-one years of age with written permission from a parent or legal guardian and a written recommendation from a licensed health care practitioner.

(3) Any laws and ordinances in the State and all other ordinance-making bodies or political subdivisions in this State that conflicts with the application of this section will be considered null and void. Nothing in this section shall allow a person to engage in conduct that endangers others.

(4) If any portion, clause, or phrase of this section is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining portions, clauses, and phrases shall not be affected, but shall remain in full force and effect.[3]

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Background

Recreational marijuana in the United States

See also: History of marijuana ballot measures and laws

As of July 2019, 11 states and the District of Columbia had legalized marijuana for recreational purposes; nine through statewide citizen initiatives, and two through bills approved by state legislatures and signed by governors. Colorado and Washington both opted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. In a subsequent Colorado measure, voters enacted a statewide marijuana taxation system. The three ballot measures that passed in 2014 were Oregon's Measure 91, Alaska's Measure 2, and the District of Columbia's Initiative 71. Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved recreational marijuana legalization ballot measures in November 2016. The Vermont State Legislature approved a bill in mid-January 2018 to allow recreational marijuana, and Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed it into law on January 22, 2018. Gov. Scott vetoed a previous bill to legalize marijuana in May 2017. On June 25, 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law legalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana. Initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana were on the ballot in November 2018 in Michigan and North Dakota. The Michigan initiative was approved, and the North Dakota initiative was defeated.[4][5][6]

The map below details the status of recreational marijuana legalization in the states as of November 2018. States shaded in green had legalized recreational marijuana usage (the shades of green indicate the years in which ballot measures were adopted; light green indicates measures approved in 2012, medium green indicates measures approved in 2014, medium-dark green indicates measures approved in 2016, and dark green indicates measures approved in 2018). The states shaded in dark gray had defeated ballot measures that proposed to legalize recreational marijuana. States in blue had recreational marijuana approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor. The remaining states (those shaded in light gray) had not legalized recreational marijuana.

Recreational marijuana legalization measures, 2012-2020

The following table provides information on the political context of the states that had voted on legalization measures as of 2022.

Click "Show" to expand the table.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Nebraska

The state process

In Nebraska, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of registered voters as of the deadline for filing signatures. Because of the unique signature requirement based on registered voters, Nebraska is also the only state where petition sponsors cannot know the exact number of signatures required until they are submitted. Nebraska law also features a distribution requirement mandating that petitions contain signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in each of two-fifths (38) of Nebraska's 93 counties.

Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the next general election. Signatures do not roll over and become invalid after the next general election at least four months after the initial initiative application filing. Depending on when the initiative application is filed, petitioners can have up to just under two years to circulate petitions.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:

Signatures are submitted to the secretary of state. The secretary of state sends the appropriate signature petitions to each county, where county election officials verify the signatures. Upon receiving the signatures back from county officials, the secretary of state determines whether or not the requirements were met.

Details about this initiative

  • Bill Hawkins of the Nebraska Hemp Company and Frank Shoemaker filed the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization Initiative on August 17, 2018. The secretary of state approved the initiative for circulation.[1]
  • The petitioners did not submit signatures by the July 2 deadline.[2]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nebraska Secretary of State, "Nebraska Cannabis Initiative," August 17, 2018
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nebraska Secretary of State, "Elections," accessed December 4, 2018
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Vermont
  5. ↑ The Hill, "Vermont governor vetoes marijuana legalization," May 24, 2017
  6. ↑ Associated Press, "Illinois becomes 11th state to allow recreational marijuana," June 25, 2019
  7. ↑ This requirement is approximate. Since the Nebraska signature requirement is based on the number of registered voters at the time of filing, it can vary slightly.
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