Nebraska Republicans are targeting voter-approved medical marijuana,
following other GOP-led states
[October 03, 2025]
By MARGERY A. BECK
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials missed a deadline this week
granting licenses to marijuana growers as part of a voter-approved
measure that legalized medical marijuana, offering the latest example of
pushback in Republican-led states against efforts to legalize the drug.
“How many times do we have to go down this road of fighting for our
lives?” Lia Post asked through sobs Tuesday to the newly formed Nebraska
Medical Cannabis Commission as it became clear the body would not meet
the Wednesday deadline.
Post lives in eastern Nebraska and suffers from a condition that causes
chronic pain in her extremities. Marijuana provides relief from the
condition and allows her to avoid addictive opiates.
“There’s no begging left in me,” Post cried during the commission
meeting, where three members hand-picked by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen
said they had to postpone licensing.
Nebraska Republican leaders from the governor to the state’s attorney
general and conservative lawmakers are working to weaken or even kill
the new law, despite its overwhelming support at the ballot box.
Most states have legalized some marijuana use
Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational
marijuana for adults, although some efforts in Florida, North Dakota and
South Dakota recently failed at the ballot box. The medical use of
marijuana is more accepted and allowed in 40 states and the District of
Columbia, including 17 states where voters approved it.
But some Republicans in those states have continued to fight against
medical marijuana approved by voters. In South Dakota, a Republican
state lawmaker unsuccessfully pushed a bill this year to repeal
voter-approved medical marijuana. In Idaho, lawmakers proposed a
constitutional amendment that would forbid citizen initiatives to
legalize marijuana and instead leave such decisions to the Legislature.
And in Mississippi, the effort to undo a 2020 voter-backed medical
marijuana law seems to have gutted that state’s citizen initiative
process after the Mississippi Supreme Court voided it, ruling the
state’s initiative process is outdated.
Reasons for the pushback appear 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 driving-while-intoxicated hazard that can’t be measured in the
field by a Breathalyzer. Many cite the federal government’s continued
classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug on par with heroin and
LSD.
Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy
Project, said polling has shown a majority of Republicans support
legalized medical marijuana.
“It’s like a small part of the Republican Party, but some of them are
vehemently opposed,” O’Keefe said. “It’s people that bought into reefer
madness."
Unlike marijuana, O'Keefe noted thousands of Americans die annually from
prescription opiates and adverse incidents from other drugs.
Nebraska pushback on medical marijuana ‘unique’
The medical marijuana law passed by Nebraska voters in November required
that licenses be issued by Wednesday. The reason for the delay? Days
earlier, Pillen forced the resignation of the two commission members he
hadn't appointed. They had been tasked with checking the qualifications
of cultivator applications.
Pillen has insisted he is not opposed to medical marijuana, but has made
several moves that critics say are designed to keep people from
accessing it. That includes appointing members to the commission who
have publicly opposed legalizing marijuana, even for medical use. Pillen
also asked the commission to limit the number of marijuana plants to be
licensed for medical use to 1,250 — a number the industry argued is too
low to accommodate the number of state residents seeking prescription
marijuana.
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This photo combination shows Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen taking part in
a panel discussion, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla., left, and State
Sen. Mike Hilgers, of Lincoln, speaking during a debate in Lincoln,
Neb., April 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, Nati Harnik,
file)
 “The purpose in doing so was to
ensure that an overabundance of plants would not saturate the market
and lead to the creation of unregulated and potentially illegal
sales,” Pillen spokesperson Laura Strimple said.
The new Nebraska commission has so far flouted provisions of the
voter initiative — including passing emergency rules that ban
smoking, vaping or marijuana edibles for medical use, which are
specifically allowed under the law voters passed. The commission has
also forbidden flavorings to improve the taste of bitter tinctures
and pills that are allowed, has drastically limited the number of
growers and dispensaries to be licensed, placed burdensome and
expensive continuing education requirements on doctors and
restricted the amount and strength of medical marijuana that can be
prescribed.
State Attorney General Mike Hilgers has turned to the courts to try
to invalidate the ballot initiative, approved by more than 70% of
voters.
“I would say Nebraska is unique in the level of hostility of trying
to overturn the will of the people,” said O’Keefe with the Marijuana
Policy Project.
Attorney general says he’s following the rule of law
Hilgers lost a court battle last year in which he called into
question the validity of thousands of signatures gathered to place
the question on the November ballot. A former Republican state
lawmaker also sued to void the new law, arguing that it violates
federal prohibitions against marijuana. He lost that challenge in
district court but has appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Hilgers said his legal fights are solely about protecting the rule
of law, accusing 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 circulator accused of forging
signatures on petitions.
“Someone cannot justify this wrongdoing by simply pointing to the
favorable results on the ballot; if you could, it would create a
dangerous precedent for future petition initiatives,” Hilgers said.
But Hilgers has made no secret of his opposition to even limited
legalization of marijuana. In a March editorial, he said “marijuana
is easily abused and is not safe to consume even under medical
supervision.”
Advocates defend will of the people
Crista Eggers, who led the medical marijuana ballot initiative,
argued a “black market” thrives when marijuana for medical use is
too severely restricted.
“If you are one of the 71% that voted in support of medical
cannabis, you should be angry, because the system and the regulatory
framework that is coming down from this commission is not at all
what voters intended,” she said.
Paul Armentano, of the marijuana advocacy organization NORML, said
elected officials in states dominated by one political party count
on voter partisanship.
“I can only presume that lawmakers are emboldened to take these
steps because, generally, they don’t fear there will be
repercussions from the voters at the ballot box,” he said.
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