Gov. Pillen signs medical cannabis emergency regulations

Gov. Jim Pillen has signed the emergency medical marijuana regulations adopted last week by the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission.

The regulations prohibit dispensaries from selling whole-plant cannabis and products that are vaped or smoked. The rules also cap the number of dispensaries at one in each of the state’s twelve district court judicial districts.

The emergency regulations will be in effect for 90 days. After that, they can be amended or allowed to become law.

Nebraska Revised Statute 71-24, 111, which voters approved through the passage of Initiative 438 last November, says the commission shall, “No later than July 1, 2025, establish criteria to accept or deny applications for registrations, including adopting, promulgating, and enforcing reasonable rules, regulations, and eligibility standards for such registrations.”

By Oct. 1, the commission must, “begin granting registrations to applicants that meet eligibility standards and other requirements established by the commission.”

Crista Eggers, the executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said the emergency regulations violate the statute, due to the prohibition of whole-plant cannabis and restrictions on the methods by which the marijuana can be consumed.

“We the patients, families, caregivers, voters, and citizens, will not be silent while this Commission defies its clear mandate,” she said. “It is not their role to rewrite or reinterpret what the people have already decided.”

The public has until July 15 to submit comments on the emergency regulations by sending an email to lcc.frontdesk@nebraska.gov.