Politics
Nebraska Officials Consider Changes To Medical Marijuana Rules
One amendment would remove a requirement for product labels to list medical cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance in light of federal rescheduling.
By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner
People wishing to weigh in on the latest regulations for the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission can do so in person Thursday or by sending in written comments by the end of the day.
The public hearing begins at 1 p.m. Thursday at the State Office Building in downtown Lincoln. It will run for up to three hours, or until there are no additional speakers, whichever comes first. Speakers will be limited to three minutes, or two minutes if many people wish to speak.
Written comments can be sent by email ([email protected]) or mail (Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, PO Box 95046, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5046) by 11:59 p.m. Thursday. In-person speakers are strongly encouraged to bring written copies, too.
Gov. Jim Pillen (R) and Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) signed off on the commission’s previous regulations this summer. They took permanent effect July 6.
“Participants are encouraged to review the proposed amendments before the hearing and focus their comments on specific provisions they would like the commission to consider changing, clarifying, adding or removing,” the commission website states. “Comments regarding the proposed fee schedule are also welcome.”
All comments must be reviewed before the commission can sign off on the regulations and forward them to the governor and attorney general, which delays the process into 2027.
The commission has said it won’t license more establishments until the next round of regulations is approved, which again will require approval from the executive branch officials. Both Pillen and Hilgers are up for reelection next month.
Proposed amendments
The latest proposal offers a few distinct changes, the largest of which is a proposed fee structure for applicants—a $5,000 application fee, annual license and renewal fees based on type (between $10,000 and $28,500), a $1,500 relocation fee and a $13,000 fee for participation in the state’s seed-to-sale inventory tracking system. Dispensaries would also need to pay a $250 fee to license a new product, plus a $100 renewal fee.
Currently, there are no fees under the program. Sales taxes are currently prohibited.
The latest amendments would also merge transporter licenses with product manufacturers, so transportation would be an optional certification.
Other notable changes:
- Removing a label that would list medical cannabis as a “Schedule I” controlled substance. In May, the federal government downgraded state-licensed medical cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.
- Allowing disenrollment of healthcare practitioners who voluntarily choose to participate in the program if the practitioner fails to maintain a medical license in good standing.
- Requiring healthcare practitioners to attest when an in-person appointment occurs before they issue a recommendation for medical cannabis.
- Attesting whether a provider knows whether a patient is pregnant before recommending medical cannabis. If the provider in the future learns a patient is pregnant, they must alert the commission.
- At the commission’s August meeting, Commissioner Jim Elworth of Nebraska City called the changes as a whole “significant” because they would help “streamline” the process. He cited a small change to the definition of cultivator and the potential expanded responsibilities of manufacturers. He had said that despite “insinuations” and, “frankly, the rudeness during the public comment period,” commissioners had visited a potential manufacturer, “taken his recommendations to heart” and made certain changes based on conversations,
“These regulations are 70-some pages, and they’re tight at this point,” Elworth said. “We are hoping that they will be approved as soon as possible and you will see that they make a difference in how this process works.”
Current state of regulations
The current medical cannabis regulations call for the state to:
- Establish a “Recommending Health Care Practitioner” directory and require patients who want to access Nebraska-licensed dispensaries to go through one of the in-state providers.
- Cap cultivators at no more than 1,250 flowering plants at one time.
- Restrict purchases of medical cannabis to 5 ounces of medical cannabis in 30 days, of which no more than 5 grams can be delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from the same dispensary. Delta-9 THC is the part of cannabis most associated with a “high.”
- Allow no more than 12 medical cannabis dispensaries statewide, arranged by judicial district. That would mean one dispensary each in Douglas County (584,526 residents), Lancaster County (322,608 residents), Sarpy/Cass counties (217,202 residents) and Buffalo/Hall counties (112,979 residents), according to 2020 census data.
- Prohibit the sale of smoking or vaping products and edibles of any kind.
Current state law allows possession of up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis with the written recommendation of any healthcare practitioner.
Advocates have repeatedly expressed concern that the regulations could hurt the program’s ultimate success. This includes the Legislature’s failure this spring to pass protections for health care providers who wish to recommend medical cannabis.
The commission’s next regular meeting is 1 p.m. Oct. 19 at the State Office Building in Lincoln.
This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
