LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Medical Marijuana Nebraskans had until 4:00 pm Thursday to submit 87,000 signatures on their two petitions to put the issue of medical marijuana on the state’s next ballot.
6 News was at the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office Thursday afternoon when organizers said they had “well over” 90,000 signatures each and hoped the initiative would make it to the state’s November ballot.
“Two months ago we had 20,000 signatures on each petition and now we’re over 90,000 on each,” an emotional state Sen. Anna Wishart told dozens of volunteers Thursday.
“You know, we just finished sending the stories of people right in our state, the stories of people who really, really need it, and I’ve had the incredible honor of hearing those stories and coming alongside the people who have struggled with this issue everything they had in them,” NMM campaign manager Krista Eggers said after officially submitting the petition to the secretary of state.
Eggers’ son, Colton, is one of many she says will benefit from medical marijuana because of his uncontrollable seizures.
“We talk about what mom does for her job, trying to help people, and I think that’s what he understands, and someday I’ll be able to tell him about all the people in this state who wanted to fight for him.” , Eggers said.
The petition must now go through a vetting and certification process to determine its validity before entering the voting process.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana @NebraskaMJ say they have “well over” 90,000 signatures on both of their petitions (they needed 87,000 for each) – they just turned in those signatures. They hope this initiative will make it to the November ballot. @WOWT6News pic.twitter.com/r1OcfGMQ0S
— Marlo Lundak WOWT (@marlolundaktv) July 7, 2022
After several failed attempts to convince Nebraska lawmakers to allow medical marijuana, and the Nebraska Supreme Court striking down the latest initiative, the families behind the initiative have continued to push in their efforts to bring the issue to the voters.
It wasn’t easy.
The group did collect enough signatures to be placed on the 2020 ballot, but the referendum was ultimately struck down by the Nebraska Supreme Court on a technicality.
The latest campaign suffered a major blow early on when one of its biggest donors died, forcing organizers to rely mostly on volunteers. Over the holiday weekend, the petitions still fell short of several thousand signatures, despite making gains since June. As a result, the petition drive is running close to deadline, with plans to collect signatures in Lincoln by 3pm on Thursday. That latest push came after a federal appeals court ruling on Wednesday that effectively overturned a judge’s ruling changing the signature-gathering requirements to get the measure on the Nebraska ballot.
“Obviously I’m anxious to find out what those numbers were, but we feel really good about things and we’re incredibly proud of how our campaign overcame such great odds to be here where a lot of people and a lot of campaigns that I don’t know I don’t think it will be, Eggers said. “It shows that our campaign was something that the people of Nebraska supported, got behind and wanted.”
Governor Ricketts has been one of the most vocal opponents for years, arguing that states that legalize marijuana directly or for medical reasons see human casualties, including devastating effects on children.
According to DISA Global Solutions, a compliance testing provider, Nebraska is one of several states that have decriminalized marijuana but not legalized medical marijuana.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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