Nebraska Bill Would Protect Doctors Who Recommend Medical Cannabis

The Nebraska Legislature is set to consider a proposal to protect physicians who recommend patients to the state’s medical cannabis program from civil, criminal, or disciplinary actions related to that conduct, the Nebraska Examiner reports.

Proposed by State Sen. John Cavanaugh (D), the bill was introduced last week to the Nebraska Health and Human Services Committee. There was no opposing testimony at the hearing, and of the seven lawmakers on the committee, at least four said they supported the proposal, according to the report.

The bill, which outlines explicit protections for recommending doctors, mirrors the policies from many other states that have only medical cannabis programs and not adult-use reforms.

Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said during testimony that the policy is “not a new or novel concept, and it’s not unchartered territory.”

Meanwhile, the federal provisions to protect state-legal medical cannabis programs from federal law this year excluded Nebraska.