Nebraska Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Medical Marijuana

Whether the policy will actually be implemented depends on the outcome of a legal challenge.

Voters in Nebraska have approved the medical use of cannabis, a policy that has been adopted by 38 other states (24 of which also allow recreational use). With three-quarters of ballots counted on Tuesday night, 71 percent of voters favored Initiative 437, which allows patients with a "written recommendation" from a "health care practitioner" to "use, possess, and acquire up to five ounces of marijuana to alleviate or treat a medical condition or its symptoms." Initiative 438, a complementary measure that authorizes state-licensed medical marijuana suppliers, was supported by 67 percent of voters.

Despite those endorsements, medical marijuana could still be blocked in court. Although Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen approved both initiatives for the ballot, a lawsuit by John Kuehn, a former Republican state senator, argues that signature collectors did not comply with state law. Last week, a state judge ruled that the medical marijuana votes should be counted despite that pending case. Depending on how the legal challenge turns out, the initiatives may or may not be implemented.

Initiative 437 does not specify which medical conditions can be treated with cannabis. But it says a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner must state that, in his professional judgment, "the potential benefits of cannabis outweigh the potential harms for the alleviation of a patient's medical condition, its symptoms, or side effects of the condition's treatment." Initiative 438 would create a commission to regulate the production and distribution of medical marijuana.