Medical marijuana backers hope to earn place on fall ballot

Organizers of the petition drive supporting medical marijuana in Nebraska "feel really good" about the number of signatures they turned over to the Secretary of State's Office Wednesday afternoon.

Crista Eggers, the leader of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, told reporters they had collected more than 114,000 signatures on each of the two petitions necessary to change state law. To create a state law, 87,000 verified registered voters must provide signatures.

The petitions and signers must be verified to ensure that all are from voters registered in Nebraska. Two years ago, the group fell short of that threshold.

By continuing to collect signatures until the state's deadline, petition circulators gathered another 2,500 in the final hours. Eggers said one woman had her husband bring her from hospice care.

"She came and signed this petition because it's that important," Eggers said.

Eggers, who is also the mother of a child she believes would benefit from medicine derived from cannabis, found it difficult to express how much this effort meant to her.

"The day that we know we did our job is the day that a mom doesn't have to run a petition drive to get their child medicine," she said.

Changing Nebraska marijuana statutes requires two petitions. One proposes a change in the law to protect both patients and caregivers using cannabis from prosecution. The second establishes a commission to set up the necessary regulations.

"We're ready to look forward to what's next, and, obviously, all of us hope that's certification and a spot on the ballot in November," Eggers said.