Senator Anna Wishart of Lincoln brought LB588 to the Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, which would legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska. Following recent struggles on the ballot in both 2020 and in 2022, activists and supporters hope that the legislative path will bring relief to many sick patients and concerned parents.
“I sit before you with a piece of legislation that would be one of the most conservative medical cannabis laws in the country,” said Senator Wishart at the beginning of the hearing. Wishart then began an impassioned opening statement that began with a story of an epileptic eight-year-old boy’s family deciding to move to a medical-cannabis state for treatment rather than stay in their Nebraska home, where the only recourse would have been brain surgery.
“They moved states, and he ended his seizures. And he became a happy and healthy little boy to this day,” said Wishart.
A myriad of statistics followed, including mention of a 2017 overview of 10,000 studies that provides “conclusive and substantial evidence” for the benefits of marijuana for medicinal purposes against nausea, chronic pain, traumatic injury, and bad sleep. Even more recent studies point to its potential against epilepsy and autism.
Epilepsy came up more than once among proponents. Long-time advocate Crista Eggers is the mother of a boy with a severe case of the condition, and she testified first. She said all that a list of medications too long to name has done is give him side effects and allergic reactions. Eggers said one prescribed medication she gives her son was determined to halt brain development in rats.
“I come to you tired and weary,” said an emotional Eggers to the committee. “And I beg you to look upon the suffering people of this state with compassion and empathy by supporting this bill.”
Of course, not everyone will support the bill. LB588 was met with numerous opponents, including Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who said, “This is an evolving area of research that requires medical professionals and the proper process to be able to understand and approve, and that is through the FDA and similar processes.” Colonel John Bolduc of the Nebraska State Patrol also weighed in in opposition to the bill and talked about how the black market continues to thrive even with legalized marijuana.
Wishart, however, made it clear that the fight will not be over if LB588 does not pass. “I know for a fact that the people in this room and the thousands of people who have signed the petitions are not going to be silent,” said Senator Wishart. “We will go back to the ballot if we fail to pass legislation this year, no doubt.
And the thing is, we’ve learned now how to run a ballot initiative on a tenth of the cost of a ballot initiative. And so, we know that we’ll be able to get this done. We’ve done it through a pandemic, we’ve done it with no money. And now we have time.”