Nebraska families await decision on ‘most conservative medical cannabis bill in U.S.’

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A La Vista gathering is more than just friends hanging out over dinner. It’s women fighting for LB588, considering yet another impassioned plea before the unicameral to make medical cannabis legal in Nebraska.

“There’s this idea that eventually, we’re going to go away,” said Crista Eggers, campaign coordinator with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. “This issue is far too important. There are too many people counting on Nebraska to do the right thing.”

People like Shari Lawlor of Valley, whose daughter, Brooke, had her first epileptic seizure at 15 months old — and still has two or three a day 29 years later.

“She’s failed, like, 15 pharmaceutical drugs,” Lawlor said. “We’ve had different diets... We’ve tried just about everything. Plus when your doctors tell you there’s nothing left to try except for brain surgery, that’s the choice you’re left with as a parent, a gut-wrenching choice.”

“They just want to try something different, something that’s been proven in 47 other states to work,” said Barry Rubin, a pro-bono lobbyist for Nebraska Families 4 Medical Cannabis. “I’m energized to fight on their behalf. I know that they’re not going to quit, they’re really fighting for their kids and elderly patients as well that want to alleviate their Parkinson’s or PTSD or whatever it might be.”

Dr. Jacqueline French is chief medical officer of the Epilepsy Foundation. She’d like to see opponents of medical cannabis get past misconceptions and listen to what she and many in the medical field have learned from families seeking answers.

“Families said, wait a minute, our kids are getting better, they’re getting a lot better in some cases, and you need to study this and show that it works in epilepsy,” Dr. French said.

“It absolutely is not about kids getting high. People do not get high from CBD.”

“There are basically two options,” Rubin said. “The legislature can pass the most conservative medical legalization in the country, which this would be, or we can take it to the ballot in two years and we can have a California or Colorado-style recreational and medical system in Nebraska.”

“I’m tired of trying to justify the value of my child’s life,” Eggers said.

State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, who introduced the bill, will call for adoption before the judiciary committee at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Lincoln.

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