LINCOLN - Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana filed a ballot initiative with the Nebraska secretary of state to put the legalization of medical cannabis before the voters in November 2024. 

A press release says the state Legislature refused to act despite the will of over 80 percent of Nebraskans.

Crista Eggers: “For over 10 years we’ve advocated, educated and fought, trying to do it the right way, though our elected leaders in the Unicameral, and every year we come up empty handed. So we will go to the ballot once again."

Eggers son Colton, 8, suffers from severe epilepsy for which cannabis may improve his quality of life. 

The petition language consists of two petitions, both statutory - one to set up the doctor patient system and one to regulate the industry. 

This is the third time the group has attempted to put this issue on the ballot. The first time in 2020 the campaign collected enough signatures (over 196,000) and met the county qualification requirements only to be kicked off the ballot by a split court decision due to the single subject requirements.

The second initiative in 2022 experienced a significant setback when the campaign’s main donor died in a plane crash. The campaign forged ahead and collected over 180,000 signatures on a grassroots budget, the bulk of which were collected over three months, but failed to meet the county qualification requirements. 

State Sen. Anna Wishart is co-chair of NMM.

Wishart: “Of course we are filing again. The way to succeed is to never give up and every time we hit a setback we grow stronger. We learned last year that we don't have to wait on a major donor to be successful. We were able to collect 180,000 signatures in virtually three months on a volunteer-led effort with a shoestring budget. Just think what we can do with over a year of collection.”

The two petitions filed today mimic the 2022 ballot language that was brought by NMM because the statutory language has been battle tested by rigorous legal review. 

The campaign will have to collect 87,000 valid signatures by July 5.