The Nebraska Examiner
Header: Commissioners on the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission during an April 13, 2026, meeting. From left, Commissioners Bud Synhorst of Lincoln, Jim Elworth of Nebraska City, Lorelle Mueting of Gretna (interim chair) and J. Michael Coffey of Omaha. All but Mueting also serve on the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission unanimously signed off on formal regulations over the budding supply chain Monday, nearly a year after issuing the first regulations.
Guidelines have ebbed through temporary 90-day periods since just before July 1. The rules have been extended multiple times and largely define restrictions on medical cannabis establishments, including licenses that can be issued, security requirements, types of products that can be sold to patients and which doctors can recommend the medicine.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has a legal duty to review the formal regulations for legal and constitutional compliance. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen then has the final say.
Hilgers has been openly critical of the voter-approved laws and some bills in the Legislature. He and Pillen questioned the legality when the laws took effect Dec. 12, 2024, following overwhelming voter approval the month before — 71% for legalization, 67% for regulations.
“Both the governor and the attorney general believe that serious issues remain regarding the validity of these [ballot measure] petitions under federal law and the Nebraska Constitution,” Pillen and Hilgers said at the time. “The federal government has designated marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance. Under federal law, it is unlawful to either possess or sell Schedule I controlled substances.”
Nebraska also finds itself in a precarious, one-of-a-kind situation: it has no congressional protections for a state medical cannabis program from federal interference. It’s unclear why Nebraska was left off the latest update in January. Today, 47 states are protected.
Read the full article
Medical cannabis regulations now headed to Nebraska AG, governor for approval
