Nebraska Committee Advances Updates to Medical Cannabis Commission

The eight-member Virginia General Affairs Committee voted unanimously this week to advance updates to the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, the Nebraska Examiner reports.

The changes include granting commissioners an annual salary of $12,500, creating an account with the state to help fund the commission, and enabling the commission to start charging application fees up to $50,000.

State Sen. Rick Holdcroft (R) said the commission had indicated it would not immediately charge $50,000 application fees, but that setting a high limit would prevent lawmakers from needing to revisit the issue as often.

State Sen. John Cavanaugh (D) called the bill a “small step,” and said, “At least it’s not a step backwards.”

“It doesn’t make really much progress in terms of getting us to where we need to be in providing available, accessible, safe medical cannabis, but it is not hurting that goal.” — Cavanaugh, in the report

Opponents argue that the commission has acted contrary to how voters wanted when they approved the reforms, and that the proposal would give commissioners too much power to continue changing the program.

Meanwhile, Nebraska’s voter-approved medical cannabis program was excluded this year from the provisions set by Congress each year to protect state-legal medical cannabis programs from federal enforcement.