TRUCE will be keeping its eye on stories coming out of the remaining 21 states without meaningful medicinal cannabis programs in 2018 even as we’re hoping Utah will have voted on joining the 29 states and Washington, DC which do have programs by the end of the year.
A senator in the Cornhusker state has introduced a measure to place the matter before voters this fall… …but the measure faces some high hurdles before that can happen….
“Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln introduced Legislative Resolution 293CA on Thursday, saying Nebraskans who find that cannabis eases their pain and suffering should not be forced across state lines or be treated like criminals.
‘Tens of thousands of Nebraskans are needlessly suffering because they don’t have access to medical cannabis, including veterans, children and the terminally ill,’ Wishart said. ‘Nebraska leaders have failed to act and provide these Nebraskans and their doctors the freedom to make decisions for their patients, without fear.’
A bill introduced by Wishart last year that would have legalized medical cannabis drew opposition from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the Nebraska State Patrol, among others.
In a press release from Wishart’s office, Brenda Potratz of Lincoln said medical cannabis is an urgent need for those who have chronic pain or have a disease that doesn’t respond to conventional medication.
“Those of us who wake up to that reality each day don’t have the luxury of disregarding our own pain,” she said.
It takes 30 votes from lawmakers to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Last year Wishart introduced LB 622, the Medical Cannabis Act, which would have authorized … medical cannabis for people suffering from 19 different medical conditions.
The conditions include seizures, opioid addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or ‘any other illness for which medical cannabis provides relief as determined by the participating health care practitioner.’
The bill would not have allowed patients to smoke the drug or grow the plants, but they could use medical cannabis in pills, oils, creams or suppositories, or through vaporizers.”
A 2016 measure came within three votes of advancing but fell victim to a filibuster.
TRUCE hopes the obstacles can be overcome on the road to every potential patient in the country having safe, legal and affordable access to medicinal cannabis. Good luck, Nebraska..!
#MMJ #NEpol #UTpol #30andBeyond #UtahNext #TRUCE
See full article – Nebraskans could vote on medical cannabis under constitutional amendment proposed by Lincoln lawmaker
