Nebraska medical marijuana group seeking petition signatures to shift strategy

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The group behind the latest effort to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska said Thursday that it is shifting its fund-raising strategy to a “grassroots” campaign.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is planning to announce the changes to its signature drive during a news conference at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

“Several tragedies have left Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) without the necessary $1 million funding to move forward with a traditional paid signature drive,” Thursday’s news release states.

The organization has been working to gather signatures in recent months at events across Nebraska.

“We have come too far and have too much support to give up. It will be unprecedented for a petition to be successful without a traditional paid signature drive, but if any campaign can do this, it is Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana,” said State Sen. Anna Wishart, co-chair of the campaign. “We collected over 196,000 signatures in 2020 during a global pandemic. We have an 80% approval rating across the state. I truly believe that where there is a will, there is a way.”

The campaign needs at least 87,000 verified voter signatures for each petition — 250,000 in total — to put the issue in front of Nebraska voters after its continued failure in the Legislature and its committees. The issue almost made it to a ballot in 2020 but was quashed by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

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