Nebraska Working on Cannabis Ballot Initiative

Many states in the U.S. are joining the procession of legislative wins for cannabis that have been sweeping the nation, but Nebraska has never been a very likely contender, as they haven’t really made any strides in the cannabis realm so far. However, a state senator is currently drafting a ballot measure that could change that.

Already on deck for 2022 is the Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative, which could appear as an initiated constitutional amendment in November of 2022 if all goes according to plan for cannabis advocates. If either of these potential initiatives pass, the Nebraska Constitution would be amended, and cannabis would be added to it. The medical initiative already specifies allowance of medical cannabis “in all its forms,” making it a pretty robust medical measure, and the recreational measure would take this a step further.  

“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 proposed medical initiative states. 

Nebraska has only allowed hemp farming since 2019, so currently, only hemp and CBD are allowed in the state. Either of these measures passing would be a huge deal for the nonexistent industry, and could yield a lot of income for the state at a time when it is much needed. 

“In light of the successful ballot measures in South Dakota and yesterday’s vote in the House of Representatives, our team is drafting a ballot initiative to legalize cannabis for adult use,” said Nebraska State Senator Anna Wishart on Facebook. “We will introduce ballot language for full adult use legalization of cannabis in January to join our medical cannabis initiative for Nebraskans to vote on in 2022.

“Just like last time, we can’t do this without you! Sign up today to be a part of the campaign and make a donation to help fund our joint signature collection efforts: Nebraskamarijuana.org,” her post concluded.

Changes in the Region

This announcement came on Saturday, as her team worked behind the scenes to come up with a ballot initiative that would legalize adult use cannabis, alongside the already-written medical cannabis initiative that is also in the running to make it to the voter stage next year. Details have not yet been released, but the measure is currently being drafted.

While the part of the country Nebraska is located in what was once known as a dry area for cannabis, with the exception of Colorado, but that is no longer the case. South Dakota has now legalized cannabis, and Missouri now has a medical cannabis industry.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group behind the already established medical cannabis ballot measure, are also supporting this measure. They’re the same group that backed the failed measures in 2020 as well, and they’re hoping things turn around in 2022 and yield better results for cannabis enthusiasts. 

 If things go well, both medical and recreational cannabis could become realities in 2022, and a whole new, legal industry could be born in the state of Nebraska.