The Nebraska Examiner
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LINCOLN — The targets of a legal effort arguing that Nebraska’s voter-initiated legalization of medical cannabis is federally unconstitutional have been expanded to include a new regulatory commission, the state treasurer and two state agencies.
Attorneys for John Kuehn, a former state senator, a former member of the State Board of Health and a longtime marijuana opponent, amended his December lawsuit on Friday to include broader swaths of state government overseeing implementation of the new medical cannabis laws.
The lawsuit first targeted Gov. Jim Pillen and Secretary of State Bob Evnen for allowing the measures to go into law, as well as the three ballot sponsors of the effort.
The amended complaint now adds:
- The three commissioners of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, who, by virtue of the voter initiatives, will compose a new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission.
- State Treasurer Tom Briese and Tax Commissioner Jim Kamm of the Nebraska Department of Revenue, who will oversee the new collection of sales taxes on medical cannabis.
- CEO Steve Corsi of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, whose department handles oversight of medical practitioners.
“In November 2024, taxpayers paid for two statewide votes which together sought to obtain an objective that was unconstitutional, unlawful and impossible: the legalization of the manufacturing, dispensing, and profiting from marijuana products for so-called medical purposes,” the amended complaint states.
Initiative Measure 437, to legalize up to 5 ounces of medical marijuana with a doctor’s written recommendation, passed with 71% of voter support. Initiative Measure 438, to create the state regulatory commission, passed with 67% voter approval.
Laws took effect Dec. 12
Kuehn’s lawsuit argues that the “activist-drafted initiative measures,” whose sponsors include two of Kuehn’s former colleagues in the Legislature, had evaded any judicial review by the time of the vote.
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Lawsuit against Nebraska medical cannabis extended to regulatory board, state agencies
