Members of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission have approved additional regulations limiting patients' ability to access medical cannabis products. The passage of the new rules, which await final approval from Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, mark the latest effort by regulators to undermine the state's 2024 voter-approved medical cannabis access law, which Nebraskans supported by a margin of more than 2 to 1.
Previous rules approved by the Commission in July repeal patients' access to botanical cannabis, limit the total number of state-licensed dispensaries to no more than twelve, and require physicians to specify which cannabis formulation, potency, and dose is appropriate for each individual patient. On Tuesday, commissioners approved additional regulations limiting the total number of state-licensed cultivators to no more than four and requiring doctors to undergo ten hours of medical education training prior to discussing medical cannabis therapy with their patients, among other changes.
Crista Eggers, Executive Director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the advocacy group that led the successful 2024 ballot effort, criticized the Commission's decisions.
"By approving rules that pile on new barriers and unlawfully restrict forms of cannabis, they are dismantling what the people demanded at the ballot box," Eggers said in a statement. "This is a direct assault on patients, families and the democratic process itself. Nebraskans voted for access to medicine. Instead, the commission delivered defiance, obstruction and betrayal."
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