Legislative hearing takes pulse of medical cannabis regulations in Nebraska
A legislative hearing pitted a lawmaker against the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission on Friday.
The commission has missed statutory deadlines and lacks the funds to set up an administration, but more than that, state Sen. John Cavanaugh says the group is breaking the rules.
"The Medical Cannabis Commission has no authority to regulate any conduct explicitly allowed under the Patient Protection Act," Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh called on the legislature's General Affairs Committee to write to the commission, but that plea got a chilly reception during the morning hearing.
Cavanaugh contends the regulations approved by the commission to limit how much THC a patient can possess — five grams — and which practitioners can recommend cannabis, violate the letter of the law.
"There's no confusion here. Voters were very clear and have been very clear," Cavanaugh said, referring to the 71% vote in favor of medical cannabis.
Some on the committee pushed back and questioned the medical utility of cannabis.
'The World Psychiatry has a report where they talk about the consumption of cannabis use in adolescents and young adulthood as a contributory cause of schizophrenia and psychosis," Sen. Bob Andersen said to one testifier.
Andersen even took personal jabs as the director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, Crista Eggers. Eggers fought for years to get medical cannabis on the ballot in the wake of her child's epilepsy diagnosis.
"So this is a financial thing for you," Andersen said, referring to Eggers' lobbying efforts.
"I want my son to have good medicine because he deserves that," Eggers said in her response.
The meeting marked another no-show for the cannabis commissioners, who were invited by Cavanaugh and Sen. Rick Holdcroft, who chairs the committee. They skipped a public hearing on the regulations they created a couple weeks ago.
The General Affairs Committee took no action on Friday, but Cavanaugh said he'll continue to push the issue as the legislative session draws near.
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