Despite a rush of support in the final weeks of its campaign, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana fell short of qualifying for the ballot this November for the second straight election cycle.
Both petitions seeking to legalize cannabis use for medical purposes needed roughly 9,000 more valid signatures to meet the 86,766 needed to qualify for the general election ballot.
The results, announced by Secretary of State Bob Evnen on Monday, follow a grassroots effort by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which shifted to an all-volunteer format after losing two large donors earlier this year.
While petition circulators were able to submit more than 90,000 signatures for each initiative at the July 7 deadline, nearly 13,000 names were thrown out after a review by county election officials.
The first petition, which would have protected doctors who recommend and patients who use cannabis for medical reasons, had 77,843 valid signatures, according to the secretary of state.
The second petition requiring the Legislature to legalize the production, supply and distribution of cannabis for medical use had a total of 77,119 valid signatures.
In addition to falling short of the raw total, Evnen said the petitions also did not qualify in 38 of the state’s 93 counties as is required in state law.
Although a federal court sided with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana in June, deeming the geographic requirement unconstitutional and issuing a temporary injunction against Evnen from enforcing it, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals put it back in place as it considers an appeal of the lower court's decision made by the state.
The first petition obtained the signatures of 5% of voters in 26 counties; the second in 27 counties, which did not meet the rule that has been in place for more than a century, the secretary of state said.
Lincoln Sen. Anna Wishart, who co-sponsored the petitions, said Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana will request a review of the signature verification effort before it determines its next steps.
“I trust the secretary of state and the counties,†Wishart said. “But we’re going to look at and verify the results, and if we determine that we did not qualify as the secretary of state has determined, we’ll plan to push forward legislatively.â€
The second-term lawmaker said Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana will also begin preparing another petition drive ahead of the 2024 election cycle, capitalizing on the momentum seen in the final weeks of the 2022 effort, where 10,000 signatures were coming in per week.
“You think about all the mistakes you made, or a decision where you could have done something differently,†Wishart said. “I think we underestimated our capabilities, and I wonder if we could have pushed even harder for those counties in the last month, if we could have squeezed out some more.â€
Crista Eggers, the statewide campaign coordinator of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said she was proud of the volunteers who traveled the state collecting signatures, as well as those who sought out a petition to sign and lend their support.
Still, that didn’t numb the “devastating†news Monday, Eggers said.
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“There are probably no words that would accurately describe the way I feel as an advocate in this fight,†she said.
Eggers said her 7-year-old son, Colton, who lives with uncontrollable seizures caused by drug-resistant epilepsy that doctors have been unable to prescribe anything that gives him relief, remains the “heart and drive†of her work to legalize medical marijuana.
“While these conversations we’re having right now are incredibly difficult, they pale in comparison to the conversation I have to have with my little boy later tonight when he asks ‘Mommy, did we get the medicine?’†Eggers said, “I don’t know what to say to him, because once again, the patients in our state are left to suffer.â€
Wishart and Eggers both pledged to keep working on behalf of Nebraskans they say would benefit from access to medical marijuana.
She said she remains committed to trying every avenue available before she is term-limited at the end of 2024.
“I think it’s something we’ll get done over the next two years,†Wishart said.
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Nebraska, which has opposed legislation and initiative petitions seeking to legalize medical marijuana, celebrated the petitions' failure to qualify for the ballot.
"Nebraska voters were not duped by the marijuana industry's Trojan horse attempt to commercialize drug use under the guise of 'medicine,' a claim as harmful as it is false," SAM Nebraska said in a news release.
The opposition group said the model proposed by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana would allow dispensaries — not doctors — to determine treatments for patients seeking cannabis.
"Bypassing important tools to protect patient health and safety in favor of a marijuana industry-driven business model ignores basic patient assurances like purity, concentration and safety," SAM Nebraska said.
“We will not be quiet, we will not go away, we will continue to show up for the thousands of Nebraskans who gave their everything for this,†Eggers said. “Today, I feel devastated, but someday this story will be different.â€