Politics
New Poll Finds 70% Of Nebraskans Support Legalizing Medical Marijuana As Activists Seek Ballot Placement
“Nebraskans are obviously ready to legalize medicinal cannabis.”
By Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner
New polling found that 70 percent of respondents are ready to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska and that a majority of those responding want to approve a novel alternative to property, sales and income taxes.
The poll, conducted for Neilan Strategy Group, mirrors polling done by a group seeking to place the medical cannabis issue on the 2024 ballot. The Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said their polling in 2022 showed that 80 percent of registered voters were in favor of legalization.
“Nebraskans are clearly ready to legalize medical marijuana,” said Perre Neilan of Neilan Strategy Group.
Crista Eggers of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said Monday that she’s not surprised “whatsoever” by the poll results in that it mirrors what they’ve seen in recent years.
“Nebraskans are obviously ready to legalize medicinal cannabis,” she said.
This year marks the third time the medical marijuana group has tried to get the issue before voters, after failing to find favor with the issue in the Nebraska Legislature.
In 2020, the group collected more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the Nebraska Supreme Court disqualified it, ruling that the initiative language violated the constitutional requirement that such matters contain only a single subject.
Two years ago, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana fell short of gathering the necessary signatures after a major financial backer of the petition drive died. This year, the group is circulating two petitions.
To qualify for the ballot, an initiative seeking a law change must gather the signatures of about 86,000 registered voters and get signers from at least 5 percent of voters from 38 of state’s 93 counties.
Eggers said that as of Monday, her organization had gathered more than 32,000 signatures and believes it has already qualified in 24 counties, which is “much farther ahead” than in 2020 or 2022.
“We’re very excited about where we’re at,” she said. “This time, we’re going to get it done or it is not going to happen.”
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The poll was conducted by Data Targeting Inc. of Gainesville, Florida. The group polled 2,198 likely general election voters on February 7–9. Cell phone and landline calls were used, as well as texts. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percent.
Photo courtesy of Kimzy Nanney.
