Nebraska voters approved medical marijuana in 2024. But Sen. John Cavanaugh says no Nebraska doctors have given out prescriptions in the months since due to fear that officials who oppose the practice might try to have their medical licenses revoked.
That’s why Cavanaugh has proposed a bill (LB933) in the state legislature that would give doctors who recommend medical marijuana treatments to their patients immunity from prosecution.
“If doctors in their professional judgment think that this is right for their patient, they can make that recommendation without fear of retribution,” Cavanaugh said ahead of the hearing.
Cavanaugh says parents across the state have traveled to Lincoln to advocate for medical marijuana treatment. The National Institutes of Health reports that cannabis can significantly reduce a patient’s pain or spasticity with conditions like multiple sclerosis. Several parents who spoke at the statehouse in the Health and Human Services Committee hearing for Cavanaugh’s bill said it would help their children suffering from epilepsy.
Some lawmakers are worried that patients could pursue medical marijuana recommendations from their doctors when cannabis isn’t necessary. But Cavanaugh argued that providers are too risk averse to needlessly prescribe the treatment. Parents like Dominic Gillen, whose 22-year-old son has epilepsy, argued the benefits are substantial regardless.
“This is not about politics,” Gillen said. “It’s about medical freedom.”
Crista Eggers, executive director for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, believes this bill would make medical marijuana more accessible for patients, including her own son. She says he needs the treatment to soothe his ailments.
“This has the ability to change our children’s lives for the better,” Eggers said. “That’s what I hope.”
Lawmakers will decide on the fate of the bill in the coming weeks.
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