Nebraska Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Overturn Medical Cannabis Laws

The Nebraska Supreme Court last week rejected a challenge from a former state senator attempting to overturn the state’s medical cannabis laws, the Nebraska Examiner reports. In the unanimous ruling, Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke determined that former state Sen. John Kuehn did not have “either taxpayer standing or standing for a matter of great public concern” to challenge the laws.

Kuehn tried to use two “narrow” exceptions to the legal standing requirements: that he should be able to sue to prevent an “illegal expenditure” of public funds, or because the laws constitute a “matter of great public concern.”    

The Supreme Court ruling upheld a previous district court decision, but the case was dismissed “without prejudice,” allowing Kuehn to bring a similar challenge in the future if circumstances change. 

Kuehn had argued that state laws allowing cannabis sales, including Nebraska’s voter-enacted medical cannabis laws, are “preempted” by federal law under the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause defining cannabis as a more dangerous drug that states are precluded from regulating. 

Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong had twice dismissed Kuehn’s challenges – first his pre-election challenge to the proposal in September 2024, and his federal preemption claim challenge to the law after its passage in June 2025.