Nebraska Medical Cannabis Program Excluded from Federal Protections
- Nebraska is not included in the recent federal update protecting states from cannabis law enforcement despite approving medical cannabis reforms in 2024.
- Advocates, including Crista Eggers of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, believe Nebraska’s exclusion from federal protections was intentional and question the motives behind it.
- State Attorney General Mike Hilgers is challenging the medical cannabis reforms legally, and Nebraska’s Supreme Court is reviewing challenges related to the law’s constitutionality and petition validity.
- Federal lawmakers Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Don Bacon have acknowledged the issue but have not taken responsibility for Nebraska’s exclusion, with Bacon supporting state-led cannabis policies over federal interference.
Nebraska is not listed among states protected from federal cannabis law enforcement in the national update published last month, the Nebraska Examiner reports. Since 2014, Congress has passed a provision which prevents the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies from using federal funds to interfere with state medical cannabis programs but, despite Nebraskans approving the reforms in 2024, the state is not listed among those protected from federal enforcement.
Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which led the 2024 ballot measures, told the Examiner that, in the eyes of advocates, “this wasn’t an oversight.”
“The fact that we were not added to the rider to provide the same protections that every other state has on this, you really have to wonder ‘why’ and who is behind this.” — Eggers to the Examiner
State Attorney General Mike Hilgers has pursued legal challenges against the reforms and has threatened the state Medical Cannabis Commission and patients that they are violating federal laws. The state Supreme Court is considering a challenge by a former state senator that argues the medical cannabis law is unconstitutional because it contradicts federal law. The court could also soon issue a ruling on another case that challenges the validity of signatures on the two medical cannabis petitions that voters approved to legalize medical cannabis in the state in 2024.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said that he respects “the will of Nebraskans and the process of the ballot amendments” but that if the state’s “laws are at odds with federal laws, a process will have to play out.” He did not comment on whether he had anything to do with Nebraska being left off the list of protected states.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), said in a statement that he had “not interfered” and that the query from the Examiner was “the first [he’s] heard of this particular issue.”
“Regardless,” he said in the statement, “I am for states having the lead when it comes to cannabis policies and prefer the federal government stay away.”