A bid to get a medical hashish proposal on the Nebraska poll this yr formally got here up brief on Monday.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana stated that the Secretary of State Bob Evnen “introduced that our effort to alleviate the ache of so many struggling Nebraskans didn’t meet the minimal {qualifications} of verified signatures to finish up on the November poll.”
“To say we’re devastated can be an understatement,” the campaign said in an announcement on Facebook. “Struggling Nebraskans ought to by no means be confronted with having to maneuver themselves or their households out of the state they name house simply to have entry to well being care.”
The group turned in additional than 184,000 signatures to the Nebraska secretary of state’s workplace final month, lower than an hour earlier than the deadline for submission.
The truth is, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana pursued what it described as “two complementary initiatives” for the state poll: the Affected person Safety Act would have enshrined protections for sufferers with “critical well being circumstances and their caregivers from arrest for using medical hashish as beneficial by a well being care supplier,” whereas the Medical Hashish Regulation Act would have established “the Nebraska Medical Hashish Fee to manage personal companies that present medical hashish to certified sufferers.”
Neither might be on the Cornhusker State’s poll this November.
The Associated Press reports: “Every proposal wanted almost 87,000 signatures — or a complete of seven% of registered voters — in addition to 5% of registered voters in at the very least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties to place the proposals to a vote of the folks. The Affected person Protections initiative collected 77,843 legitimate signatures, and the 5% threshold was met in solely 26 counties, Evnen stated. That proposal would have legalized using as much as 5 ounces of marijuana for qualifying medical causes. The Hashish Regulation initiative collected 77,119 signatures, and the 5% threshold was met in 27 counties. It will have legalized the possession, manufacture, distribution, supply, and meting out of marijuana for medical causes and would have established a fee to manage a state medical hashish program.”
The information on Monday marks an anticipated conclusion to what has been a turbulent marketing campaign for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.
In March, the group stated it was scrambling for donations after two people who had been anticipated to be main contributors had been unable to assist the marketing campaign resulting from extenuating circumstances.
“I’d say devastating is an understatement,” Crista Eggers, one of many group’s spokespeople and leaders, stated on the time. “We’re pleading with you to assist.”
“If what we wanted was grit, and drive, and willpower, we now have that,” Eggers added. “Our marketing campaign can be carried out and over if that’s what we wanted. However sadly, the one factor our marketing campaign doesn’t have – and has to have – is cash.”
Eggers was concerned within the marketing campaign for private causes: her son, Colton, has epilepsy however can’t obtain medical hashish therapy of their house state.
“We’ve acquired a lot encouragement from people all throughout the state, who assist the numerous sufferers like our son Colton, who desperately want entry to this drugs. It doesn’t matter what your political background is, we must always all agree that criminalizing a drugs that has the potential to alleviate struggling, is each merciless and inhumane,” Eggers stated through the marketing campaign launch final yr. “The present coverage doesn’t replicate our household values right here in Nebraska, and we’re going to vary that. We’d like everybody who believes in compassion for struggling people like my son to be a part of this motion and assist us win in 2022.”
Regardless of the fundraising setback, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana managed to spherical up 1000’s of signatures and submit its petitions simply earlier than the deadline final month, which the group hailed as a testomony to the organizers’ resilience.
However that feeling of triumph was short-lived. Now, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana says it’s setting its sights on 2024.
“After we obtain the outcomes from the Secretary of State’s workplace, we are going to analyze the info after which we are going to instantly get to work on qualifying for the 2024 poll,” the group stated on Monday.