LINCOLN, Nevada (AP) — Nebraska officials missed the deadline to grant licenses to marijuana growers this week. Voter-approved scale This provided the latest example of a Republican-led state pushback to efforts to legalize medical marijuana and legalize drugs.
“How many times do we have to go on this path of fighting for our lives?” Lia Post asked the newly formed Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission through Sobs on Tuesday.
Post lives in eastern Nebraska and suffers from conditions that cause chronic pain in the limbs. Marijuana provides relief from this condition and allows her to avoid addictive opium.
“I will not plead with you in me,” cried the Post at the committee meeting. There, three members, hand-picked by Republican Gov. Jim Piren, said they had to postpone their licenses.
Republican leaders from Nebraska governor to state attorney general and conservative lawmakers are working to undermine or kill new laws despite overwhelming support in the ballot box.
Most states legalize marijuana use
24 states and Washington, DC have recently legalized recreational marijuana, despite several efforts in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota. We’re screwed In the voting box. The medical use of marijuana is more accepted and permitted in 40 states, including 17 voter-approved states, and in the District of Columbia.
However, some Republicans in these states continue to fight against medical marijuana approved by voters. In South Dakota, Republican state lawmakers pushed the bill this year to eliminate voter-approved medical marijuana. In Idaho, lawmakers proposed constitutional amendments that would legalize marijuana and instead ban citizen initiatives to leave such decisions to Congress.
And in Mississippi, efforts to revoke the voter-supported medical marijuana law of 2020, appear to have smashed the state’s citizen initiative process after the Mississippi Supreme Court. I disabled itdominating the state’s initiative process is outdated.
The reason for the pushback appears to be rooted in the belief that marijuana is a dangerous drug.
Law enforcement has long opposed it as a gateway to other drug use and as a toxic risk during driving that cannot be measured in the field by breeding zeros. Many cite the federal government’s ongoing classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug equivalent to heroin and LSD.
Karen O’Keefe, state policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the polls show that the majority of Republicans support legalized medical marijuana.
“It’s just like a small part of the Republican Party, but some of them are vehemently opposed,” O’Keefe said. “It was the people who bought it at Reefer Madness.”
Unlike marijuana, O’Keefe pointed out that thousands of Americans die each year from unfavorable incidents from prescription ohhen and other drugs.
“Unique” for Nebraska Medical Marijuana
The Medical Marijuana Act, passed by Nebraska voters in November, required that the license be issued by Wednesday. Why the delay? A few days ago, Piren forced the resignation of two committee members that he had not appointed. They were tasked with checking the qualifications for the Cultivator application.
Piren claimed he was not opposed to medical marijuana, but made several moves that critics say were designed to prevent people from accessing it. This includes appointing members to committees that publicly oppose the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Pyrene also asked the committee to limit the number of marijuana plants licensed to 1,250 medical licenses.
“The purpose of doing so was to ensure that excess plants would not saturate the market and lead to the creation of unregulated, potentially illegal sales,” said Laura Strimple, a spokesman for Pillen.
The new Nebraska committee has previously flouted provisions for voter initiatives. This is specifically permitted under a law passed by voters that has passed emergency regulations prohibiting the eating of marijuana for smoking, vaping or medical use. The committee also banned flavorings to improve the taste of permitted bitter tinctures and tablets, significantly limiting the number of licensed growers and pharmacies, placing burdens and expensive continuing education requirements on doctors, limiting the amount and strength of medical marijuana that can be prescribed.
State Attorney General Mike Hilgers has resorted to courts to nullify voting initiatives approved by more than 70% of voters.
“I think Nebraska is unique in the level of hostility to overturn people’s will,” O’Keefe said in the Marijuana Policy Project.
The Attorney General says he follows the rule of law.
Hilger lost Last year, he poses a court battle that questioned the validity of the thousands of signatures that he gathered to question the November vote. A former Republican state lawmaker has called for the new law to be overturned, alleging it violates a federal ban on marijuana. He lost the challenge in district court, but he sued the state Supreme Court.
Hilgers said his legal battle was not only to protect the rule of law, but to condemn 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 wired who was accused of formulating a signature on the petition.
“No one can justify this misconduct. By simply pointing out the positive outcome of the vote, if possible, they would create a dangerous precedent for future petition initiatives,” Hilgers said.
However, the Hilgers have not kept their opposition to even the limited legalization of marijuana. In an editorial in March, he said, “Marijuana is easily abused and is not safe to consume under medical supervision.”
Supporters protect people’s will
Christa Eggers, who led the Medical Marijuana Voting Initiative, argued that the “black market” would flourish when medical marijuana is too strictly restricted.
“If you’re one of the 71% who voted in favor of medical cannabis, you should be mad because the system and regulatory framework that comes down from this committee is not intended by voters,” she said.
Paul Armentano of the marijuana advocacy group Norml said an elected official in a state where one political party controls the vote.
“I can assume that lawmakers are encouraged to take these steps because in general they are not afraid of voter influence in the ballot box,” he said.
