Lawmaker pushes back on AG's stance on medical marijuana regulations

Nebraska’s attorney general and the state senator leading the push to implement regulations for medical marijuana held press conferences on Wednesday where they offered sharply different visions for how the industry should be regulated.

LB677 – a comprehensive regulatory framework for medical marijuana, which Nebraskans voted to legalize and regulate in last year’s election – was introduced by State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. Though the bill initially failed to advance from the General Affairs Committee, a compromise amendment called AM1251 led the committee to advance the bill on a 5-3 vote.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said at his press conference that the amended version of LB677 is a “recreational marijuana bill” that would benefit the black market, while Hansen said not taking action would allow for medical marijuana to remain inaccessible to Nebraskans. The crux of the argument is whether or not legislative intervention is needed to further regulate the industry.

Under the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act approved by voters, a newly created Medical Cannabis Commission was organized to establish regulations. The five-member board is made up of the three existing members of the Liquor Control Commission and two gubernatorial appointees, subject to legislative approval.

Both of Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s appointees to the cannabis commission are outspoken critics of medical marijuana legalization – and with the term of one liquor commission member expiring next year, he could hypothetically appoint another anti-marijuana member and create a majority on the board. Pillen’s appointees have not yet been confirmed by the legislature.

Hansen said that could lead to a near-prohibition on medical marijuana, which would be “denying the will of the voters.”

“It will be the wild west,” Hansen said of a scenario in which LB677 does not pass. “The Liquor Control Commission really has no idea what they’re even going to do. And with the lack of funding that we’re gonna probably see going to the medical cannabis board, we will essentially have nothing in the state of Nebraska.”

Hilgers, however, argued that the people voted to leave the regulations up to the Medical Cannabis Commission – and the best way to honor the will of the people would be to leave the law’s language as written.

“What will happen if nothing passes is the regulators who are, in this case, the cannabis commission – and they have enough people to do this – will presumably draft the regulations,” Hilgers said. “Now, what happens if they don’t do their job? I think there are ways to force regulations to be put in place, but I’m assuming that they’re going to do their job.”

Hilgers, Hansen spar over details of LB677

At the beginning of the legislative session, state senators introduced a handful of bills to make changes to the regulatory act, but LB677 was the only one to gain traction. The initial bill made extensive additions to the regulatory framework – like instituting a registry program, allowing the commission to hire additional staff, delaying the implementation timeline and establishing requirements for contaminant and potency testing.

The bill was voted out of committee with AM1251, which made two major changes: It removed smoking as an allowable form of consumption, and it created a list of eligible conditions. Both are likely to be major points of contention when the bill is debated by the full legislature, which Hansen said should happen “really soon” after the budget debate concludes.

Under the amendment, patients could still possess up to five ounces of medical marijuana, but only two of those ounces could be in the form of dried flower. Smoking would not be permitted, but vaping would be.

The eligible conditions under the amendment are:

• ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
• Autism with frequent self-harm or aggressive behavior
• Cancer
• Chronic pain lasting more than six months that hasn’t responded to non-opioid treatment, in a doctor’s opinion
• Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
• Epilepsy or seizures
• Hepatitis C with serious nausea or wasting
• HIV/AIDS
• Huntington’s Disease
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Spinal cord injury or disease with ongoing nerve problems
• Terminal illness with less than one year expected to live
• Tourette’s Syndrome
• Severe nausea or wasting from another serious medical condition
• Severe muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or muscular dystrophy

Hilgers said the list of conditions is too exhaustive and vague, categorizing the categories for chronic pain and severe nausea from a serious medical condition as “loopholes.” He also said allowing the sale of flower essentially allows for smoking marijuana, even if smoking is technically prohibited.

“The bill does say that smoking is not allowed,” Hilgers said. “But that is like saying you can buy the beer, you can bring the beer home, you can put the beer in your refrigerator, but whatever you do, just don’t drink the beer.”

In a letter Hilgers sent to John Arch, the speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, Hilgers reiterated his concerns and said LB677 is “only vaguely tied to the original purpose” of the law passed by voters and would constitute an “extraordinary expansion of marijuana into public life in Nebraska” The letter was also signed by 16 county sheriffs.

Among other criticisms, Hilgers said the bill would “supercharge” the black market for marijuana. Hansen disagreed. He said a black market, or the illegal sale of marijuana, is more likely to thrive without LB677 than with it.

“If you have a child who has epilepsy and they need help, you’re going to get it,” he said. “Any parent would do that. So either you do that through regulation, or you do it illegally from getting it out of the state, which is actually what ultimately drives the black market.”

Asked if he thought he had the 33 votes needed to pass the bill, Hansen said he’s still in the process of talking with and educating his colleagues. Just advancing it out of committee was a “huge hurdle,” he said.

“I really actually like (Hilgers),” Hansen said. “He's a good friend of mine. We’re just on different sides of the aisle on this one, and I think us denying the people this medicine is going to be a big problem in the future.”