Republican Attorney General Mike Hilgers continues to lead legal efforts to nullify a pair of voter-approved initiatives legalizing patients’ access to medical cannabis.
During a recent appearance on Nebraska Public Radio, Hilgers reiterated his opposition to the measures — which were passed in 2024 by more than 70 percent of voters.
“On medical marijuana, …I don’t think it’s good public policy,” he said. “The federal government has said, and has not changed their position, that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, which means it has no, according to the federal government, no medicinal upside at all. Highly addictive, leads to lots of downsides. In that world, it has been my view consistently for years, and by the way, the view of this office, even before I became attorney general, that the sale of marijuana — medicinal or otherwise — is is not lawful, and therefore, is unconstitutional. So as the attorney general, my job is to enforce the Constitution.”
The Attorney General also said that he believes that state regulators erred when counting the number of validated signatures turned in by medical cannabis proponents, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. Although a district court judge has rejected that claim, the AG is appealing the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court. (A separate lawsuit arguing that the state’s medical cannabis measures should be preempted by federal law is also pending.)
In March, AG Hilgers and former Governor (now US Senator) Pete Ricketts circulated an op-ed urging lawmakers not to enact legislation to facilitate the adoption of the voter-approved law.
Legislation to fund and regulate the medical cannabis access program stalled earlier this month after lawmakers on the General Affairs Committee tabled the bill. Lawmakers are attempting to revive the legislation before the close of the 2025 legislation session, which ends in less than three weeks. Legislators had previously sought to amend the law by banning patients’ access to botanical cannabis and by restricting the ability of physicians to use their own discretion when issuing medical cannabis recommendations.
NORML’s Deputy Director said that elected officials in Republican-led states have become increasingly hostile to voter-approved laws, despite their bipartisan public support. Lawmakers in Mississippi and South Dakota successfully sued to nullify election results in those states legalizing cannabis. In Texas, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued several cities in order to overturn voter-initiated marijuana depenalization laws. In Ohio, GOP leadership are considering a pair of bills to significantly roll back the state’s voter-approved adult-use legalization law.
“In a healthy democracy, those with competing visions on public policy vie for voters’ support and abide by their voting decisions. However, it is becoming clear that those who oppose marijuana policy reform would rather take voters out of the equation altogether,” Armentano said. “Whether or not one personally supports or opposes cannabis legalization, these cynical and undemocratic tactics ought to be a cause of deep concern.”
