A Nebraska state senator who supported successful gambling ballot initiatives is confident a medical marijuana initiative will also pass in 2022.
State Senator Adam Morfeld of Lincoln told NET News he gets part of his confidence from the fact that South Dakota, a traditionally conservative neighboring-state, legalized recreational marijuana in this week's election.
“Other than missing out on the medicinal benefits that a lot of people really need for their health, I think that Nebraska also continues to kind of look like an out of touch state on this issue and many other issues,” said Morfeld. “It really only hurts out ability to retain, recruit and attract more people to our state.”
Plans to include a medical marijuana initiative on the 2020 ballot were derailed when, after obtaining the necessary signatures, a legal maneuver brought by the sheriff of Lancaster County scuttled the effort.
The experience was something Morefeld does not want to see repeated. He says he’s determined to make any future initiative harder to challenge in court.
When asked whether he and others involved would consider expanding a future initiative to include recreational use of marijuana, Morfeld said he was focusing on medicinal marijuana for now.
“That being said, we have a long way between now and 2022,” said Morefeld.
Arizona and New Jersey also voted to legalize recreational pot this week.