A citizen-led effort to get a Nebraska Marijuana Card initiative on the ballot is following up on their nearly-successful 2020 campaign, but the effort has hit a series of roadblocks that could prevent Cornhuskers from finding relief again this time.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) gathered enough signatures to put a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in 2020, but the state Supreme Court ultimately tossed the initiative, saying it didn’t pass the constitutional muster.
Now, NMM is back at it, this time collecting signatures to put two different initiatives on the ballot, since the Court ruled that their previous ballot initiative lumped together two issues that should be decided by voters separately.
Medical Marijuana Advocates Looking to Add Two Initiatives to 2022 Ballot
The first initiative that NMM hopes to add to the 2022 ballot would protect doctors who prescribe medical marijuana and patients who use it from legal prosecution. The second initiative would do the same for companies that grow and sell medical marijuana for medical purposes.
According to the Lincoln Journal Star, each petition needs to acquire signatures from 7% of the state’s voters. The newspaper reports that based on their March totals, the initiatives will need about 87,000 more signatures each by July 2 to make it onto the 2022 ballot.
Unfortunately, the need to acquire signatures is only one of the issues dogging NMM’s efforts.
“Tragic Events” Strike Nebraska Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group
According to the Journal Star, NNM has been hit by a “string of tragic events” that has endangered the group’s efforts by hitting them in their wallet.
State Senator Anna Wishart, who has been working with NMM to put medical marijuana on the ballot, told the newspaper that two of NMM’s major donors will not be making contributions to the group’s efforts this time. Wishart said that one of the donors died in a plane crash, and the other has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The Journal Star reports that Wishart called the losses “a huge setback” in an email to NMM supporters. The paper also said that Wishart remains optimistic that the group will still meet its $500,000 fundraising goal by May 1, even though the campaign had less than $30,000 as of February 28.
Loss of Funding Makes Acquiring Signatures Harder
Wishart said that the majority of funds raised by NMM go towards paying professionals to gather signatures, and the group’s efforts could still succeed without that funding but it would make success less likely. She noted that very few citizen-led campaigns have come to fruition in Nebraska without adequate financial support.
"It would take every person in this state who cares," Wishart said.
Medical Marijuana Initiative Also Facing Political Opposition
NMM’s efforts also face outright antagonism from political forces who oppose letting doctors and patients have the freedom they need to provide relief to the suffering.
Governor Pete Ricketts has opposed the group’s efforts, calling marijuana a “dangerous drug” and even appearing in a commercial for Smart Approaches to Marijuana Nebraska. Despite the innocuous name, that organization is actually an anti-cannabis group who thinks the only smart approach to marijuana is to keep it illegal, causing Nebraskans to suffer needlessly and preventing the state from realizing the economic benefits of medical marijuana.
In the commercial, Ricketts said that the only difference between “medical” marijuana and “recreational” marijuana is a semantic one, implying that medical marijuana isn’t actual medicine.
The commercial did not explain how doctors and patients in the thirty-seven states that have medical marijuana markets have managed to be so wrong on the issue, or how Ricketts, with his background in being born wealthy and working for his father’s company, Ameritrade, has managed to get it right.
Nebraskans Want Medical Marijuana and They Can Get It
In addition to placing himself in opposition to medical science, Ricketts stance on medical marijuana puts him out of step with his constituents.
Surveys show that 77% of Nebraskans support medical marijuana access. With those kind of numbers, the governor would perhaps do well to steer clear of anti-cannabis campaigns and instead start listening to researchers and his constituents.
Fortunately, Nebraskans don’t have to wait for their governor to join the twenty-first century before they’re able to bring medical marijuana to the state. If enough people support NMM’s efforts financially and by signing their petitions, the governor will be powerless to stop suffering Cornhuskers from getting relief.
The Journal Star noted that despite lamenting the loss of two major donors, NMM has seen half of its recent contributions come from individuals, including $5,000 in contributions of $250 or less. Wishart said NMM will step up its fundraising efforts and volunteer recruitments in order to offset the lost donations.
Wishart also said that NMM shouldn’t be counted out despite the setbacks it has encountered. "We have done extraordinary things before," she said.
Don’t Wait Longer Than You Have to for Medical Marijuana
While we have to wait to see how the ballot initiative efforts pan out before we can get medical marijuana in Nebraska, you can start preparing for its inevitable arrival right now.
Reserve an evaluation online today, and we’ll book an appointment for you with one of our compassionate, knowledgeable cannabis doctors as soon as Nebraska’s medical marijuana market is up and running. Your doctor will let you know if you qualify for a Nebraska Marijuana Card, and if you reserve your evaluation online, you’ll even save $25 off the cost of the appointment!
Doctors Who Care. Relief You Can Trust.
At Nebraska Marijuana Card, we want to help everyone find safe, convenient wellness through improved access to medical marijuana. We try to reduce the stigma cannabis patients often face through education and focusing on inclusion and acceptance.
If you have any questions, call us at (833) 781-6665, or simply reserve a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
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