Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) escalated his opposition to legislative efforts to help implement medical cannabis Wednesday, parading out more than a dozen law enforcement officers who support his stance.
At a news conference, Hilgers blasted Legislative Bill 677, from State Sen. Ben Hansen (R) of Blair, asserting that the effort to build a regulatory framework around voter-approved medical cannabis is nothing more than a path to recreational marijuana that he argued would “supercharge the black market.”
As he has already said this year, he urged lawmakers to wait until at least January, as he continues challenging in court the laws that voters approved last fall.
“This is not about the will of the people,” Hilgers, joined by various sheriffs, said of LB 677. “This is going to make Nebraska less safe, more dangerous. It’s going to handcuff the good men and women here that are in front of you and all their colleagues around the state.”
Hansen, other lawmakers and supporters of the 2024 ballot measures have already indicated that they have no intention to wait. They argue that without LB 677, the voter-approved laws could become the “wild west” or prevent Nebraskans who need cannabis the most from accessing it.
The voter-approved laws allow up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis with a physician’s recommendation. In effect since December, the laws passed in November with 71 percent voter approval.
A new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission is set to write new regulations around the laws, part of a companion ballot measure that passed with about 68 percent approval.
Hellbound and Down 