Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative (2022)
| Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Marijuana | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative was not on the ballot in Nebraska as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The initiative would have amended the Nebraska Constitution to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.[1][2]
The initiative was filed by the same sponsors of a 2020 medical marijuana initiative that was removed from the ballot by a ruling from the Nebraska Supreme Court after the secretary of state certified the petition.
The initiative sponsors also filed two other medical marijuana initiatives in 2022 and submitted signatures for the measures on July 7, 2022. Information on the measures can be found below:
Overview
How does the 2022 initiative compare to the 2020 initiative?
In 2020, sponsors of the 2022 initiative filed a similar initiative to legalize medical marijuana. The sponsors submitted the required number of signatures and the measure was certified for the ballot on August 26, 2020, by the secretary of state. On August 28, Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner filed a lawsuit arguing that the ballot language violated the state’s single-subject rule that requires ballot initiatives to address a single issue or subject. The lawsuit also argued that the right to use marijuana to treat serious medical conditions is not necessarily connected to the right of providers to produce marijuana. It also argued that the initiative’s provision that allows individuals to personally grow marijuana violates the medicinal purposes of the initiative. On September 10, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wagner and removed the initiative from the November ballot.[3][4]
The 2022 initiative would have added one line to the state constitution to provide for a right to the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The 2020 initiative would have added a new section to the state constitution that provided for the right to possess, grow, sell, and use medical marijuana. The new section had nine subsections.
The chart below illustrates the differences between the object statements in the initiative petitions filed in 2020 and 2022:[1]
| Section of petition | 2022 initiative text | 2020 initiative text |
|---|---|---|
| Object statement | The object of this petition is to allow persons in the State of Nebraska to have the right to cannabis in all its forms for medical purposes. | The object of this petition is to amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide the right to use, possess, access, and safely produce cannabis, and cannabis products and materials, for serious medical conditions as recommended by a physician or nurse practitioner. |
Text of measure
Object statement
The object statement for the initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | The object of this petition is to allow persons in the State of Nebraska to have the right to cannabis in all its forms for medical purposes.[5] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Nebraska Constitution
The measure would have added a new section 31 to Article I of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been addeded:[1]
Section 31
I-31 Persons in the State of Nebraska shall have the right to cannabis in all its forms for medical purposes.[5]
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Support
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana led the campaign in support of the initiative.[6]
Supporters
- State Sen. Adam Morfeld (D)[7]
- State Sen. Anna Wishart (D)[7]
Arguments
- Nicole Hochstein, a regional volunteer coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and the mother of an 11-year-old diagnosed with epilepsy, said, "It is frustrating that politicians have ignored the will of the people and denied my son and thousands of other patients the compassion they deserve. But this ballot campaign provides hope to families like ours. We are seeing democracy in action today, and I look forward to talking with hundreds of more Nebraskans over the next nine months and asking them to sign these two very important initiatives."[8]
Opposition
Opponents
- Smart Approaches to Marijuana Nebraska[7]
- Governor Pete Ricketts (R)[7]
Arguments
- Governor Pete Ricketts (R) said, "The only difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is word choice. Doctors can’t prescribe it and pharmacists can’t provide it because it’s not medicine. ... Today the marijuana industry has set its sights on Nebraska. And the real goal is the legalization of recreational marijuana across the state. We’ve seen what happens when progressive politics trump science and common sense. That can’t happen. It’s up to us to protect our kids and defend our communities. Big Marijuana’s way is the wrong way for Nebraska."[7]
Background
Marijuana-related ballot measures |
 |
| • 2020 marijuana ballot measures |
|---|
| • Marijuana on the ballot |
| • Local marijuana on the ballot |
| • History of marijuana ballot measures and laws |
| • Marijuana laws in the U.S. |
Marijuana and CBD policy in Nebraska
As of 2020, Nebraska did not allow the use of recreational or medical marijuana. On May 30, 2019, Nebraska passed the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act (Legislative Bill 657), which legalized the cultivation and commercial distribution of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products tested and approved by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.[9]
CBD derived from hemp containing less than 0.3% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) was legalized at the federal level effective January 1, 2019, after President Donald Trump (R) signed the Agriculture Improvement Act (also known as the Farm Bill) into law on December 20, 2018.[10]
Federal policy on marijuana
- See also: Federal policy on marijuana, 2017-2018
The federal government has classified marijuana as an illegal controlled substance since 1970. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana has "high abuse potential and no approved therapeutic use through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) process for establishing medications."[11]
On January 4, 2018, the Trump administration rescinded the Cole Memorandum, a 2013 policy that deprioritized the enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states where marijuana had been legalized. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that in deciding which activities to prosecute under federal laws, such as the Controlled Substances Act, "prosecutors should follow the well-established principles that govern all federal prosecutions. ... These principles require federal prosecutors deciding which cases to prosecute to weigh all relevant considerations, including federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General, the seriousness of the crime, the deterrent effect of criminal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community."[12][13]
As of 2020, the possession, purchase, and sale of marijuana were illegal under federal law.
Medical marijuana in the United States
As of May 2021, 36 states and Washington, D.C., had passed laws legalizing or decriminalizing medical marijuana. Additionally, 10 states had legalized the use of cannabis oil, or cannabidiol (CBD)—one of the non-psychoactive ingredients found in marijuana—for medical purposes.[14] In one state—Idaho—medical marijuana was illegal, but the use of a specific brand of FDA-approved CDB, Epidiolex, was legal.[15] Based on 2019 population estimates, 67.5 percent of Americans lived in a jurisdiction with access to medical marijuana.
Unique instances
Idaho: In 2015, the Idaho State Legislature passed a bill legalizing certain types of CBD oil that was later vetoed by Governor Butch Otter (R). In response, Otter issued an executive order allowing children with intractable epilepsy to use Epidiolex in certain circumstances. [16]
South Dakota: In 2019, the South Dakota State Legislature passed a bill amending one section of law by adding Epidiolex to its list of controlled substances. The bill also exempted CBD from the state's definition of marijuana in that section.[17] Elsewhere in state law, CBD was not exempted from the definition of marijuana. This discrepancy led to confusion that left the legal status of CBD in the state unclear for a year.[18]
After the 2019 changes, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) issued a statement, wherein he argued all forms of CBD oil, apart from Epidiolex, were illegal under state law.[19] Several state's attorneys expressed disagreement with the Attorney General's statements. Aaron McGown and Tom Wollman, state's attorneys for Minnehaha and Lincoln counties, respectively, issued a joint statement where they said the discrepancy left legality open to differing interpretations. Mark Vargo, the Pennington County state's attorney, said his office would not prosecute CBD cases based on his interpretation of the state law.[18]
On March 27, 2020, Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed House Bill 1008 into law, which legalized industrial hemp and CBD oil in the state.[20]
Path to the ballot
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 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 123,966
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 7, 2022.
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
- The initiative was filed by Adam Morfeld and Anna Wishart on September 28, 2020.[2]
- The initiative did not submit signatures on July 7, 2022, but did submit signatures for two other initiatives—Medical Marijuana Program Initiative and Medical Marijuana Regulation Initiative.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nebraska Secretary of State, "Medical Marijuana Constitutional Amendment," accessed November 9, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nebraska Secretary of State, "Current Petitions in Circulation," accessed November 9, 2020
- ↑ Lincoln Journal-Star, "Nebraska Supreme Court bars medical marijuana question from November ballot," September 10, 2020
- ↑ Nebraska Supreme Court, State ex rel. Wagner v. Evnen, September 11, 2020
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 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 - ↑ Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, "Home," accessed June 15, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Marijuana Moment, "Nebraska Governor partners with prohibitionist group on ad opposing medical marijuana," December 8, 2021
- ↑ Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, "Medical Cannabis Advocates Launch 2022 Signature Drive in Nebraska," accessed December 8, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Department of Agriculture, "Legislative Bill 657," accessed September 2, 2020
- ↑ Perkins Coie, "What Does the 2018 Farm Bill Mean for the Hemp and CBD Businesses?" accessed February 5, 2020
- ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "Office of National Drug Control Policy: Marijuana," accessed January 1, 2020
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement," August 29, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "Read: Attorney General Jeff Sessions's memo changing marijuana policy," January 4, 2018
- ↑ This count excludes states that permitted both the use of cannabis oil and medical marijuana.
- ↑ CBD School, "CBD Laws by State 2020 - Just the Facts (is CBD legal in 2020?)," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ Idaho Office of Drug Policy, "Cannabidiol (CBD)," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ South Dakota Legislature official website, "2019 Senate Bill 22 - Enrolled," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Argus Leader, "Is CBD oil illegal? Confusion reigns over South Dakota's law," April 19, 2019
- ↑ South Dakota Attorney General official website, "Attorney General Ravnsborg clarifies questions regarding industrial hemp and CBD (Cannabidiol) oil," March 25, 2019
- ↑ Argus Leader, "Industrial hemp becomes legal in South Dakota after Noem signs bill," March 27, 2020
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