LB634 LB634
2023 2023
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 634
Introduced by McKinney, 11.
Read first time January 18, 2023
Committee: Judiciary
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to cannabis; to amend sections 28-439, 43-292,
2 60-6,211.08, 77-2701.02, 77-2701.48, 77-2704.09, 77-4301, 77-4302,
3 77-4303, 77-4304, 77-4305, 77-4306, 77-4309, 77-4310.01, and
4 77-4310.03, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and sections
5 28-401, 28-405, 28-416, 28-476, 28-1354, 28-1701, 71-5727,
6 77-27,132, 81-2,239, and 81-2,263, Revised Statutes Cumulative
7 Supplement, 2022; to adopt the Cannabis Control Act and Cannabis
8 Conviction Clean Slate Act; to remove cannabis as a controlled
9 substance under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act; to change
10 provisions relating to penalties for possession of a synthetic
11 cannabinoid and drug paraphernalia; to define, redefine, and
12 eliminate terms; to change provisions relating to termination of
13 parental rights, visitation, custody, and other parenting matters;
14 to prohibit possession of an open container of cannabis in a motor
15 vehicle; to provide for the applicability of the Nebraska Clean
16 Indoor Air Act and the Nebraska Pure Food Act; to impose a higher
17 sales and use tax rate on sales of cannabis; to provide for the
18 distribution of tax revenue; to remove cannabis from the cannabis
19 and controlled substances tax; to rename a fund; to eliminate
20 obsolete provisions; to harmonize provisions; to provide
21 severability; to repeal the original sections; and to outright
22 repeal sections 28-463, 28-464, 28-465, 28-466, 28-467, 28-468, and
23 28-469, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska.
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1 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Sections 1 to 178 of this act shall be known and may be
2 cited as the Cannabis Control Act.
3 Sec. 2. For purposes of the Cannabis Control Act, the definitions
4 found in sections 3 to 36 of this act apply.
5 Sec. 3. (1) Cannabis means all parts of the plant of the genus
6 cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound,
7 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, extract, or preparation of such
8 plant or its seeds.
9 (2) Cannabis includes cannabis in all forms, including, but not
10 limited to, cannabis products and concentrated cannabis.
11 (3) Cannabis does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber
12 produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant,
13 any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or
14 preparation of such mature stalks, the sterilized seed of such plant
15 which is incapable of germination, or cannabidiol contained in a drug
16 product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration or obtained
17 pursuant to sections 28-463 to 28-468.
18 (4) Cannabis does not include hemp.
19 (5) When the weight of cannabis is referred to in the Cannabis
20 Control Act:
21 (a) It means its weight at or about the time it is seized or
22 otherwise comes into the possession of law enforcement authorities,
23 whether cured or uncured at that time; and
24 (b) It does not include the weight of any other ingredient combined
25 with cannabis to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or
26 some other cannabis product.
27 Sec. 4. Cannabis accessories means any equipment, products, or
28 materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for
29 use in:
30 (1) Planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting,
31 manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing,
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1 testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, consuming, smoking,
2 vaporizing, or containing cannabis; or
3 (2) Ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis into the
4 human body.
5 Sec. 5. Cannabis product means a product comprised of cannabis and
6 other ingredients and that is intended for use by consumption, other than
7 by smoking. Cannabis product includes, but is not limited to, edible
8 products, concentrated cannabis, ointments, and tinctures.
9 Sec. 6. Cannabis store means a person licensed by the commission
10 to:
11 (1) Purchase cannabis from cultivators;
12 (2) Purchase cannabis products from products manufacturers and other
13 cannabis stores; and
14 (3) Sell cannabis and cannabis products to consumers twenty-one
15 years of age and older and to other cannabis stores.
16 Sec. 7. (1) Canopy means an area used to cultivate cannabis that
17 shall be calculated in square feet and measured using clearly
18 identifiable boundaries of all areas that will contain mature cannabis
19 plants at any point in time, including all of the space within the
20 boundaries.
21 (2) A canopy may be noncontiguous, but each unique area included in
22 the total canopy calculation shall be separated by an identifiable
23 boundary. A boundary may include, but is not limited to, any of the
24 following: Interior walls, shelves, greenhouse walls, hoop house walls,
25 garden benches, hedge rows, fencing, garden beds, or garden plots.
26 (3) If mature plants are being cultivated using a shelving system,
27 the surface area of each level shall be included in the total canopy
28 calculation.
29 Sec. 8. Commission means the Nebraska Cannabis Enforcement
30 Commission.
31 Sec. 9. (1) Concentrated cannabis means the resin extracted from
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1 any part of the plant of the genus cannabis and every compound,
2 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of that resin.
3 This includes inhalable concentrates which may be comprised of cannabis
4 and other ingredients inside a device that uses a heating element to
5 create a vapor, including, but not limited to, vaporizer cartridges and
6 vaporizer pens.
7 (2) When resins extracted from hemp are in the possession of a
8 person as authorized under the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, they are not
9 considered concentrated cannabis for purposes of the Cannabis Control
10 Act.
11 Sec. 10. Cultivator means a person licensed by the commission to
12 cultivate cannabis pursuant to the Cannabis Control Act for sale to
13 cannabis stores, to products manufacturers, and to other cultivators, but
14 not to consumers.
15 Sec. 11. Disproportionately impacted area means an area within the
16 State of Nebraska that satisfies the following criteria, as determined by
17 the commission, in consultation with the Department of Economic
18 Development:
19 (1) The area meets at least one of the following criteria:
20 (a) The average poverty rate in the area is twenty percent or more
21 for the total federal census tract or tracts or federal census block
22 group or block groups in the area;
23 (b) Seventy-five percent or more of the children in the area qualify
24 for free or reduced-price lunches under United States Department of
25 Agriculture child nutrition programs;
26 (c) At least twenty percent of the households in the area receive
27 assistance under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
28 or
29 (d) The average rate of unemployment in the area during the period
30 covered by the most recent federal decennial census or American Community
31 Survey 5-Year Estimate by the United States Bureau of the Census is at
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1 least one hundred fifty percent of the average rate of unemployment in
2 the state during the same period; and
3 (2) The area has high rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration
4 related to the sale, possession, use, cultivation, manufacture, or
5 transport of cannabis.
6 Sec. 12. (1) Disqualifying offense means a felony, of which a
7 person was convicted in the preceding ten years, that is:
8 (a) A violent offense;
9 (b) A violation of the Cannabis Control Act; or
10 (c) A violation of subdivision (4)(a)(i) or subsection (5) of
11 section 28-416.
12 (2) An offense is not a disqualifying offense if it has been
13 pardoned, expunged, or set aside.
14 (3) For purposes of this section:
15 (a) Serious bodily injury has the same meaning as in section 28-109;
16 (b) Sexual contact and sexual penetration have the same meanings as
17 in section 28-318; and
18 (c) Violent offense means:
19 (i) A violation of any of the following sections: 28-303, 28-304,
20 28-305, 28-306, 28-308, 28-309, 28-310.01, 28-311, 28-311.01, 28-311.03,
21 28-311.08, 28-313, 28-314, 28-316.01, 28-319, 28-319.01, 28-320,
22 28-320.01, 28-320.02, 28-322.02, 28-322.03, 28-322.04, 28-322.05, 28-323,
23 28-324, 28-386, 28-391, 28-392, 28-393, 28-394, 28-397, 28-398, 28-502,
24 28-503, 28-507, 28-703, 28-707, 28-813.01, 28-831, 28-833, 28-904,
25 28-905, 28-912, 28-929, 28-930, 28-931, 28-931.01, 28-932, 28-933,
26 28-934, 28-1005, 28-1009, 28-1105.01, 28-1205, 28-1212.02, 28-1212.04,
27 28-1221, 28-1222, 28-1223, 28-1224, 28-1351, 28-1463.03, or 28-1463.05,
28 or 42-924;
29 (ii) An offense that has as an element:
30 (A) Sexual contact or sexual penetration; or
31 (B) The threat to inflict serious bodily injury or death on another
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1 person, the infliction of serious bodily injury on another person, or
2 causing the death of another person; or
3 (iii) Attempt, solicitation, aiding or abetting, being an accessory,
4 or conspiracy to commit an offense listed in subdivision (3)(c)(i) or
5 (ii) of this section.
6 Sec. 13. Employment authorization means authorization granted by
7 the commission for an individual to work for a licensee as provided in
8 sections 164 to 168 of this act.
9 Sec. 14. Extraction means a process by which cannabinoids are
10 separated from cannabis plant material through chemical or physical
11 means.
12 Sec. 15. Hemp has the same meaning as in section 2-503.
13 Sec. 16. Immature plant means a nonflowering cannabis plant that
14 is:
15 (1) No taller than eight inches;
16 (2) No wider than eight inches;
17 (3) Produced from a cutting, clipping, or seedling; and
18 (4) In a cultivating container.
19 Sec. 17. Implementation date means a date selected by the
20 commission that is:
21 (a) After the commission has adopted rules and regulations necessary
22 to carry out the Cannabis Control Act; and
23 (b) On or before January 1, 2025.
24 Sec. 18. Infusion means a process by which cannabis, cannabinoids,
25 or concentrated cannabis is directly incorporated into a product
26 formulation to produce a cannabis product.
27 Sec. 19. Kief means the resinous trichomes of a cannabis plant that
28 have been separated from the cannabis plant.
29 Sec. 20. License means a license issued by the commission pursuant
30 to the Cannabis Control Act. License does not include an employment
31 authorization or any other permit or certification issued by the
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1 commission.
2 Sec. 21. Licensed premises means the premises specified in an
3 application for a license under the Cannabis Control Act, which are owned
4 by or in the possession of the licensee and within which the licensee is
5 authorized to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, sell, or test cannabis
6 in accordance with the Cannabis Control Act.
7 Sec. 22. Licensee means a person licensed by the commission
8 pursuant to the Cannabis Control Act.
9 Sec. 23. Local governing body means (1) the city council or village
10 board of trustees of a city or village within which the licensed premises
11 are located or (2) if the licensed premises are not within the corporate
12 limits of a city or village, the county board of the county within which
13 the licensed premises are located.
14 Sec. 24. Location means a particular parcel of land that may be
15 identified by an address or other descriptive means.
16 Sec. 25. Ordinance means any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or
17 other law duly enacted by a local governing body.
18 Sec. 26. Premises means a distinctly identified and definite
19 location, as required by the commission, and may include a building, a
20 part of a building, a room, or any other definite contiguous area.
21 Sec. 27. Private residence means a house, an apartment unit, a
22 mobile home, or other similar dwelling.
23 Sec. 28. Process or processing means to harvest, dry, cure, trim,
24 and separate parts of the cannabis plant by manual or mechanical means.
25 Sec. 29. Products manufacturer means a person licensed by the
26 commission to manufacture cannabis products pursuant to the Cannabis
27 Control Act for sale and distribution to cannabis stores and other
28 products manufacturers, but not to consumers.
29 Sec. 30. School means a public, private, denominational, or
30 parochial preschool, elementary, vocational, or secondary school, a
31 private postsecondary career school as defined in section 85-1603, a
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1 community college, a public or private college, a junior college, or a
2 university.
3 Sec. 31. (1) Social equity applicant means an applicant for a
4 license that meets either of the criteria described in subsection (2) or
5 (3) of this section.
6 (2) An applicant shall be eligible to apply as a social equity
7 applicant if at least thirty-three percent of the applicant is owned and
8 controlled by, and thirty-three percent of the applicant's profits are
9 shared by, individuals who:
10 (a) Have resided for at least five of the ten years preceding the
11 date of application in a disproportionately impacted area;
12 (b) Have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated for any
13 offense that is eligible for clean slate relief under the Cannabis
14 Conviction Clean Slate Act; or
15 (c) Are a parent, legal guardian, child, spouse, or dependent of an
16 individual described in subdivision (2)(b) of this section.
17 (3) An applicant that will have at least ten full-time employees
18 shall be eligible to apply as a social equity applicant if:
19 (a) At least sixty percent of such full-time employees are