Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission Chair Steps Down Amid Dispute Over Smoking and Vaping Restrictions

The chair of Nebraska’s Medical Cannabis Commission has resigned as debate continues over whether the panel has the authority to restrict how patients use medical marijuana under the voter-approved law. Dr. Monica Oldenburg of Lincoln, an anesthesiologist appointed by Governor Jim Pillen in April, stepped down Monday after helping lead the commission through drafting regulations that would prohibit licensed dispensaries from providing medical marijuana intended to be smoked or vaped. Those proposed rules sparked pushback from patients and advocates who argue the 2024 ballot measures clearly allow those forms of use and do not give the commission authority to limit them.

Oldenburg had missed the commission’s December and January meetings prior to her resignation. State officials provided no immediate explanation beyond acknowledging that she had left the post, and the governor’s office did not release her resignation letter.

When lawmakers confirmed Oldenburg in a 34 to 11 vote last May, she described herself as “not a prohibitionist” and said marijuana has “a place in pain management” for certain conditions. At the same hearing, she urged Nebraska to move “slow and deliberate” in deciding how qualifying conditions would be determined and how dispensaries would be regulated. She also said she had been encouraged to apply by State Senator Jared Storm (R) of David City.

Oldenburg served as one of two at-large members of the commission alongside the three members of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.

Following Oldenburg’s departure, the remaining four commissioners voted unanimously to name Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna as interim chair. Mueting, a prevention director at Heartland Family Service in Omaha, was confirmed to the commission alongside Oldenburg in a 27 to 16 vote and had also faced opposition over her past stance on medical marijuana legislation.

Pillen previously described both appointees as “experienced, well-qualified individuals” who would ensure regulations follow “the letter of the law the people of Nebraska enacted.”