LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska is days away from having official medical marijuana regulations on file.
Gov. Jim Pillen’s office posted a news release Wednesday stating that the governor had approved the regulations drafted by the Medical Cannabis Commission as permanent.
The statement did not include any comments from the governor.
“Today, Governor Jim Pillen approved permanent regulations for medical marijuana as drafted by the state Medical Cannabis Commission. His action comes one day after Attorney General Mike Hilgers affirmed that the regulations met statutory and constitutional authority.
The regulations will be filed with the secretary of state’s office and will become law five days after receipt.”
Pillen’s approval of the regulations comes a day after Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers put his signature on the rules, which will now go into effect five days after they’re filed with Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office.
In his statement on Tuesday, Hilgers acknowledged the regulations would become official with the governor’s signature, but also noted that a pending legal decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court could undo that — and clarified that his assessment of the regulations didn’t imply his support or opposition to them “as a policy matter.”
The case before the state supreme court is challenging the signatures of the initial ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in Nebraska. If that case strikes down the act, the approved regulations would lose their legal authority.
Hilgers also raised concerns about how the current regulations might give way in favor of wider use.
Jocelyn Brasher, who is running for AG on the November ballot, said in a statement on Tuesday that Hilgers is “trying to have it both ways. He wants credit for signing off on medical cannabis regulations while continuing to waste taxpayer dollars on frivolous litigation.”
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