Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana filed a ballot initiative with the SOS to put the legalization of medical cannabis before the voters in November 2024.
“We have no choice but to keep petitioning our government,” says Crista Eggers, Campaign Manager for Nebraska for Medical Marijuana. “The Legislature refuses to act despite the will of over 80% of Nebraskans supporting this. For over 10 years we’ve advocated, educated and fought, trying to do it the right way, though our elected leaders in the Unicameral, and every year we come up empty handed.”
Eggers eight year old son Colton suffers from severe epilepsy and she believes cannabis may improve his quality of life. The petition language consists of two statutory petitions, one to set up the doctor patient system and one to regulate the industry.
This is the third time the group has attempted to put this issue on the ballot. The first time in 2020 the campaign collected enough signatures and met the county qualification requirements only to be kicked off the ballot by a split court decision due to the single subject requirements. The second initiative in 2022 experienced a significant setback when the campaign’s main donor died in a plane crash. The campaign forged ahead and collected over 180,000 signatures on a grassroots budget, the bulk of which were collected over three months
It ultimately failed to meet the county qualification requirements. “The way to succeed is to never give up and every time we hit a setback we grow stronger,” Eggers says. The campaign will be required to collect approximately 87,000 valid signatures per petition and signatures are due to be turned in on July 5, 2024.
If NMM is successful, the legalization of medical cannabis will go before Nebraska voters on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot. People who want to support this effort can go to nebraskamarijuana.org.