Nebraska officials have missed a deadline to grant licenses to marijuana growers under a new medical marijuana law approved by voters. This delay highlights ongoing resistance in GOP-led states like Nebraska, where Republican leaders are trying to weaken or overturn the law.
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Doctors wish they wouldn’tCalifornia police pull over a self-driving Waymo for an illegal U-turn, but they can’t ticketHelen Mirren opens Stella McCartney’s activist, cruelty-free Paris runwayRusia ayuda a China a prepararse para potencial invasión de Taiwán, advierte instituto de defensaFuerte respaldo de EEUU: Milei elimina impuestos al agro en medio de turbulencias financierasAttacker who killed 2 people and injured 3 at British synagogue is dead, police sayThe Afternoon WireTennessee court sets execution date for the state’s only woman on death row and 3 male inmatesAt 58, Tom Cillo is tackling his dream of playing college footballDaniel Day-Lewis, pulled out of retirement by his son, finds his acting fire still burnsFederal shutdowns usually don’t do much economic damage. There are reasons to worry about this onePhotos show Ghana’s fantasy coffins as a stylish final restIt’s time get a flu vaccination. Here’s who needs one and whyLice concerns rise as children return to school. Here’s what parents can doFDA approves another generic abortion pill, prompting outrage from conservativesSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn’tCalifornia police pull over a self-driving Waymo for an illegal U-turn, but they can’t ticketHelen Mirren opens Stella McCartney’s activist, cruelty-free Paris runwayRusia ayuda a China a prepararse para potencial invasión de Taiwán, advierte instituto de defensaFuerte respaldo de EEUU: Milei elimina impuestos al agro en medio de turbulencias financierasLia Post, of Springfield, Neb., leaves a meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, where she sobbed and begged its members to honor the will of the voters in approving comprehensive access to medical marijuana, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 in Lincoln, Neb. Crista Eggers speaks to reporters, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, following the latest meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, which missed a Wednesday deadline to issue marijuana grower licenses as part of a new medical marijuana law overwhelmingly passed by voters in November, in Lincoln, Neb. Eggers led the effort to get the initiative measure on the ballot. This photo combination shows Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen taking part in a panel discussion, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla., left, and State Sen. Mike Hilgers, of Lincoln, speaking during a debate in Lincoln, Neb., April 3, 2018. Lia Post, of Springfield, Neb., leaves a meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, where she sobbed and begged its members to honor the will of the voters in approving comprehensive access to medical marijuana, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 in Lincoln, Neb. Lia Post, of Springfield, Neb., leaves a meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, where she sobbed and begged its members to honor the will of the voters in approving comprehensive access to medical marijuana, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 in Lincoln, Neb. Crista Eggers speaks to reporters, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, following the latest meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, which missed a Wednesday deadline to issue marijuana grower licenses as part of a new medical marijuana law overwhelmingly passed by voters in November, in Lincoln, Neb. Eggers led the effort to get the initiative measure on the ballot. Crista Eggers speaks to reporters, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, following the latest meeting of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, which missed a Wednesday deadline to issue marijuana grower licenses as part of a new medical marijuana law overwhelmingly passed by voters in November, in Lincoln, Neb. Eggers led the effort to get the initiative measure on the ballot. This photo combination shows Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen taking part in a panel discussion, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla., left, and State Sen. Mike Hilgers, of Lincoln, speaking during a debate in Lincoln, Neb., April 3, 2018. This photo combination shows Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen taking part in a panel discussion, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla., left, and State Sen. Mike Hilgers, of Lincoln, speaking during a debate in Lincoln, Neb., April 3, 2018. “How many times do we have to go down this road of fighting for our lives?” Lia Post asked through sobs Tuesday to the newly formed Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission as it became clear the body would not meet the Wednesday deadline. Post lives in eastern Nebraska and suffers from a condition that causes chronic pain in her extremities. Marijuana provides relief from the condition and allows her to avoid addictive opiates. “There’s no begging left in me,” Post cried during the commission meeting, where three members hand-picked by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said they had to postpone licensing. Nebraska Republican leaders from the governor to the state’s attorney general and conservative lawmakers are working to weaken or even kill the new law, despite its overwhelming support at the ballot box.Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults, although some efforts in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota recentlyat the ballot box. The medical use of marijuana is more accepted and allowed in 40 states and the District of Columbia, including 17 states where voters approved it. But some Republicans in those states have continued to fight against medical marijuana approved by voters. In South Dakota, a Republican state lawmaker unsuccessfully pushed a bill this year to repeal voter-approved medical marijuana. In Idaho, lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would forbid citizen initiatives to legalize marijuana and instead leave such decisions to the Legislature.And in Mississippi, the effort to undo a 2020 voter-backed medical marijuana law seems to have gutted that state’s citizen initiative process after the Mississippi Supreme CourtLaw enforcement has long opposed it as a gateway to other drug use and as a driving-while-intoxicated hazard that can’t be measured in the field by a Breathalyzer. Many cite the federal government’s continued classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug on par with heroin and LSD. Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, said polling has shown a majority of Republicans support legalized medical marijuana. “It’s like a small part of the Republican Party, but some of them are vehemently opposed,” O’Keefe said. “It’s people that bought into reefer madness.”The medical marijuana law passed by Nebraska voters in November required that licenses be issued by Wednesday. The reason for the delay? Days earlier, Pillen forced the resignation of the two commission members he hadn’t appointed. They had been tasked with checking the qualifications of cultivator applications. Pillen has insisted he is not opposed to medical marijuana, but has made several moves that critics say are designed to keep people from accessing it. That includes appointing members to the commission who have publicly opposed legalizing marijuana, even for medical use. Pillen also asked the commission to limit the number of marijuana plants to be licensed for medical use to 1,250 — a number the industry argued is too low to accommodate the number of state residents seeking prescription marijuana. “The purpose in doing so was to ensure that an overabundance of plants would not saturate the market and lead to the creation of unregulated and potentially illegal sales,” Pillen spokesperson Laura Strimple said. The new Nebraska commission has so far flouted provisions of the voter initiative — including passing emergency rules that ban smoking, vaping or marijuana edibles for medical use, which are specifically allowed under the law voters passed. The commission has also forbidden flavorings to improve the taste of bitter tinctures and pills that are allowed, has drastically limited the number of growers and dispensaries to be licensed, placed burdensome and expensive continuing education requirements on doctors and restricted the amount and strength of medical marijuana that can be prescribed. State Attorney General Mike Hilgers has turned to the courts to try to invalidate the ballot initiative, approved by more than 70% of voters. “I would say Nebraska is unique in the level of hostility of trying to overturn the will of the people,” said O’Keefe with the Marijuana Policy Project.a court battle last year in which he called into question the validity of thousands of signatures gathered to place the question on the November ballot. A former Republican state lawmaker also sued to void the new law, arguing that it violates federal prohibitions against marijuana. He lost that challenge in district court but has appealed to the state Supreme Court. Hilgers said his legal fights are solely about protecting the rule of law, accusing the petition process of “unprecedented levels of fraud.” So far, the only success Hilgers has had in court is the misdemeanor conviction of a petition circulator accused of forging signatures on petitions. “Someone cannot justify this wrongdoing by simply pointing to the favorable results on the ballot; if you could, it would create a dangerous precedent for future petition initiatives,” Hilgers said. But Hilgers has made no secret of his opposition to even limited legalization of marijuana. In a March editorial, he said “marijuana is easily abused and is not safe to consume even under medical supervision.”Crista Eggers, who led the medical marijuana ballot initiative, argued a “black market” thrives when marijuana for medical use is too severely restricted. “If you are one of the 71% that voted in support of medical cannabis, you should be angry, because the system and the regulatory framework that is coming down from this commission is not at all what voters intended,” she said. Paul Armentano, of the marijuana advocacy organization NORML, said elected officials in states dominated by one political party count on voter partisanship. “I can only presume that lawmakers are emboldened to take these steps because, generally, they don’t fear there will be repercussions from the voters at the ballot box,” he said.Live updates: Trump uses government shutdown to threaten firings and punishment
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