Voters approved medical cannabis, but litigation could block initiatives

On November 5, 2024, Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved two companion medical cannabis initiatives — Measure 437 and 438! Both measures received more than two-thirds of the vote.

It has been a heartbreakingly long journey to enact medical cannabis protections. Sadly, relief remains still uncertain. The co-chair of the absurdly named "Smart Approaches to Marijuana" Nebraska chapter — Republican former state senator John Kuehn — is trying to get the courts to block the measures from taking effect. As of November 6, no decision has been made in the case and the trial is underway.

2024 marked the third attempt to take medical cannabis to the ballot. In 2020, advocates collected enough signatures to put a constitutional medical cannabis initiative on the ballot. Just three months before Election Day, the state Supreme Court issued a deeply flawed court ruling that prevented voters from deciding the issue. In 2022, families tried again. The 2022 effort, which was largely volunteer, came just a few thousand signatures away from meeting the required threshold to qualify.

Due to the outrageously restrictive single-subject ruling, in 2024 medical cannabis was broken up into two separate, very simple companion measures. If courts do not block them:
Measure 437 will protect patients with serious health conditions and their caregivers from arrest for the use of medical cannabis as recommended by a healthcare provider.
Measure 438 establishes a Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to regulate private businesses that provide medical cannabis to qualified patients.

With all precincts reporting, Measure 437 received 70.74% of the vote while Measure 438 received 66.95%.

Of course, none of these ballot measures would have been needed if the Legislature had enacted the will of voters itself, and passed a medical cannabis measure.

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