Legislature advances proposal that would remove medical cannabis roadblock

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

March 20, 2026, 5 p.m. ·

Sen. John Cavanaugh in debate Friday (Fred Knapp/Nebraska Public Media News)

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A proposal aimed at removing a roadblock to medical cannabis in Nebraska advanced Friday in the Legislature.

Sen. John Cavanaugh is the lead sponsor of legislation (LB933) aimed at easing the risks for doctors and other medical professionals if they recommend medical cannabis to their patients. Cavanaugh said fear of prosecution, lawsuits, or losing their license is preventing doctors from making those recommendations. He said his bill would change that.

"When someone meets with their doctor and has a conversation with them, the doctor can say, ‘Listen, cannabis is something that could help with this particular ailment,’ and… they can decide to recommend it, and for that act of recommendation, can't lose their license,” Cavanaugh said.

Doctors could still face discipline for malpractice or negligence if they don’t meet a standard of care.

Sen. Bob Andersen, opposing the bill, asked Cavanaugh about the fact that the law lets patients to get recommendations for cannabis from doctors from other states.

“It would allow any fly-in doctor that could come in here and set up a clinic on a corner and then see patients and write prescriptions and recommendations, right?”Andersen asked.

“That can already happen,” Cavanaugh replied. “My bill is attempting to make sure that the legitimate doctors are protected. The folks who are doing those fly-by-night sort of situations would not be protected because they would not be following a standard of care.”

Andersen asked Sen. John Arch, a supporter of the bill, about that.

“FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) has not approved cannabis – marijuana – as a safe and effective drug for any indication. So if that's the case, how could you have a standard of care for something that's not approved by the FDA?” Andersen asked.

“That's the gray area we're in,” Arch said.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, but Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis in 2024. However, Sen. Danielle Conrad lamented that it’s still not available in the state.

“The people are way out in front of the Legislature in Nebraska on this. And despite these decisive votes two years ago, we're still really limping along in ensuring access to medical cannabis in this state,” Conrad said.

The state’s Medical Cannabis Commission has been criticized for slow-walking implementation of the law. Cavanaugh said without his legislation, doctors would be reluctant to register with dispensaries, further delaying the process.

“There is a real possibility that these dispensaries will have no doctors on the registry, meaning the commission will issue four grow licenses and a bunch of dispensary licenses and some manufacturing licenses, and then no one will be able to go to the dispensary and get cannabis, because there will be no doctors registered with the dispensaries, meaning there will be no doctors that can make a recommendation in state of Nebraska, because doctors are afraid that if they did that, they would potentially lose their license,” he said.

Cavanaugh said some Nebraskans have been able to get medical cannabis if they go outside the state and get a recommendation. But he said that doesn’t help many people who need it.

“The people who are not able to get access to medical cannabis in Nebraska are the patients who have mobility issues, the patients who are disabled and can't travel. And that's really what this bill is trying to answer, is the sickest patients are the ones who can't get cannabis right now,” he said.

Sen. Jared Storm, opposing the bill, offered an amendment to require that any practitioner’s recommendation of medical cannabis for a patient be based on a “preponderance of scientific evidence,” which Storm said is constantly changing.

“This simple and straightforward addition of language ensures that practitioners writing a recommendation for medical marijuana or exercising their judgment are using the most current scientific evidence,” Storm said.

But Sen. Ben Hansen, opposing Storm’s amendment, warned that could lead to micromanaging the off-label use of drugs. Hansen gave the example of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that some people advocate as a treatment for COVID.

“I don't think there's a preponderance of scientific evidence that it should be used to help fight COVID. I think it helps with COVID, I used it. But if we're going to start going down this road, then, then it would make it illegal to use it for that,” Hansen said.

Storm’s amendment failed narrowly, attracting 22 votes, three short of what was needed, with 19 senators opposed. The Legislature then voted 30-7 to give Cavanaugh’s bill first round approval.