Nebraska Bill Would Overhaul State’s Medical Cannabis Program
Nebraska lawmakers have introduced legislation that would significantly reshape how medical marijuana is regulated, tracked, and taxed in the state, establishing a formal patient registry, a directory of recommending health care practitioners, a restructured Cannabis Commission, and a seed-to-sale tracking system for all licensed operations. Legislative Bill 1235 was introduced January 21 by the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee. The measure makes sweeping changes to both the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act and the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act, redefining oversight and building out the infrastructure needed for a fully regulated medical marijuana system.
Under the proposal, the existing Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission would be restructured and modeled after the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, with liquor commissioners serving as ex officio members and the Governor authorized to appoint two additional members. The commission would be given exclusive authority over licensing, enforcement, rulemaking, recalls of unsafe products, and administration of the program.
A major component of the bill is the creation of a confidential patient and caregiver registry. Individuals seeking to become qualified patients would apply directly to the commission, pay a processing fee of up to $30, and receive a unique identification number. Caregivers would undergo the same process. Law enforcement would be given digital tools to verify a person’s status without accessing medical records, which the registry would not store.
The bill also establishes a public practitioner directory. Physicians, physician assistants, osteopathic physicians, and nurse practitioners would be required to enroll in the directory before issuing written recommendations for marijuana. Practitioners would pay a fee of up to $150 for enrollment and would be barred from having any financial ties to dispensaries or caregivers, sharing an address with a dispensary, or receiving any form of compensation tied to where a patient obtains marijuana.
For patients, the bill defines an “allowable amount of cannabis” as up to five ounces, excluding the weight of non-cannabis ingredients in edibles, topicals, and other preparations.
On the regulatory side, the commission would be required to implement a centralized seed-to-sale tracking system covering cultivation, processing, testing, transport, and retail sale. The commission would also have the authority to limit license numbers, set fees up to $25,000, impose fines up to $20,000 for violations, and seize or destroy cannabis deemed unsafe or in violation of regulations.
LB 1235 also makes key tax changes. Cannabis sold by dispensaries to qualified patients and caregivers would be placed under Nebraska’s normal sales tax structure, with those revenues directed to the School District Property Tax Relief Credit Fund. At the same time, legally possessed medical marijuana would be removed from Nebraska’s marijuana and controlled substances tax, meaning patients and licensed operators would no longer be subject to the state’s $100-per-ounce illicit marijuana tax.
The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately upon passage and approval.
If enacted, LB 1235 would provide the clearest framework yet for how Nebraska intends to administer, monitor, and tax its medical marijuana program, placing the entire system under centralized state oversight while creating formal pathways for patients, caregivers, practitioners, and businesses to participate legally.