Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Voter-Approved Medical Cannabis Laws

The Nebraska Supreme Court last week ruled 7-0 to uphold the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis laws, the Nebraska Examiner reports.

Friday’s ruling ends the appeal process for a 2024 legal challenge by longtime medical cannabis opponent and former Republican state Sen. John Kuehn. Kuehn’s lawsuit was also supported by Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers. Kuehn named Evnen in his original lawsuit, but the officials ultimately joined the effort to overturn the voter-approved ballot measure, alleging fraud and “notorial malfeasance” in the signature-gathering process.

“This was never about protecting Nebraska law. It was about whether a handful of elected officials could use the court to override the will of the people. Today, our state’s highest court stated the obvious: they cannot.” — Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, in a statement

Meanwhile, Hilgers called it a “sad day for election integrity in Nebraska” and repeated his unproven claims that the medical cannabis campaign used fraud to qualify for the ballot.

Nebraska voters approved two medical cannabis initiatives in 2024 — one to legalize medical cannabis use and possession by qualified individuals, and the other to set up a system of rules and regulations to implement a statewide program. Advocates were forced to split the issue into two ballot initiatives, which both passed, after the state Supreme Court struck down a 2020 campaign for violating the state’s single-issue clause.