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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 52
Introduced by Wayne, 13.
Read first time July 29, 2024
Committee: Judiciary
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to cannabis; to amend sections 28-439, 43-292,
2 60-6,211.08, 77-2701.48, 77-2704.09, 77-4301, 77-4302, 77-4303,
3 77-4304, 77-4305, 77-4306, 77-4309, 77-4310.01, and 77-4310.03,
4 Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, sections 28-1701 and 71-5727,
5 Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022, sections 28-405,
6 28-416, and 28-1354, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023; section
7 28-401, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022, as amended by
8 Laws 2024, LB262, section 21; section 28-476, Revised Statutes
9 Cumulative Supplement, 2022, as amended by Laws 2024, LB262, section
10 22; section 81-2,263, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022,
11 as amended by Laws 2024, LB262, section 37; section 77-2701.02,
12 Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, as amended by Laws 2024, LB1317,
13 section 81; section 77-27,132, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, as
14 amended by Laws 2024, LB1108, section 3; and section 81-2,239,
15 Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, as amended by Laws 2024, LB262,
16 section 28; to adopt the Cannabis Control Act and the Cannabis
17 Conviction Clean Slate Act; to remove cannabis as a controlled
18 substance under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act; to change
19 provisions relating to penalties for possession of a synthetic
20 cannabinoid and drug paraphernalia; to define, redefine, and
21 eliminate terms; to change provisions relating to termination of
22 parental rights, visitation, custody, and other parenting matters;
23 to prohibit possession of an open container of cannabis in a motor
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1 vehicle; to provide for the applicability of the Nebraska Clean
2 Indoor Air Act and the Nebraska Pure Food Act; to impose a higher
3 sales and use tax rate on sales of cannabis; to provide for the
4 distribution of tax revenue; to remove cannabis from the cannabis
5 and controlled substances tax; to rename a fund; to eliminate
6 obsolete provisions; to harmonize provisions; to provide
7 severability; to repeal the original sections; and to outright
8 repeal sections 28-463, 28-464, 28-465, 28-466, 28-467, 28-468, and
9 28-469, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska.
10 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.
17 (4) Cannabis does not include hemp.
18 (5) When the weight of cannabis is referred to in the Cannabis
19 Control Act:
20 (a) It means its weight at or about the time it is seized or
21 otherwise comes into the possession of law enforcement authorities,
22 whether cured or uncured at that time; and
23 (b) It does not include the weight of any other ingredient combined
24 with cannabis to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or
25 some other cannabis product.
26 Sec. 4. Cannabis accessories means any equipment, products, or
27 materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for
28 use in:
29 (1) Planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting,
30 manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing,
31 testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, consuming, smoking,
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1 vaporizing, or containing cannabis; or
2 (2) Ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis into the
3 human body.
4 Sec. 5. Cannabis product means a product comprised of cannabis and
5 other ingredients and that is intended for use by consumption, other than
6 by smoking. Cannabis product includes, but is not limited to, edible
7 products, concentrated cannabis, ointments, and tinctures.
8 Sec. 6. Cannabis store means a person licensed by the commission
9 to:
10 (1) Purchase cannabis from cultivators;
11 (2) Purchase cannabis products from products manufacturers and other
12 cannabis stores; and
13 (3) Sell cannabis and cannabis products to consumers twenty-one
14 years of age and older and to other cannabis stores.
15 Sec. 7. (1) Canopy means an area used to cultivate cannabis that
16 shall be calculated in square feet and measured using clearly
17 identifiable boundaries of all areas that will contain mature cannabis
18 plants at any point in time, including all of the space within the
19 boundaries.
20 (2) A canopy may be noncontiguous, but each unique area included in
21 the total canopy calculation shall be separated by an identifiable
22 boundary. A boundary may include, but is not limited to, any of the
23 following: Interior walls, shelves, greenhouse walls, hoop house walls,
24 garden benches, hedge rows, fencing, garden beds, or garden plots.
25 (3) If mature plants are being cultivated using a shelving system,
26 the surface area of each level shall be included in the total canopy
27 calculation.
28 Sec. 8. Commission means the Nebraska Cannabis Enforcement
29 Commission.
30 Sec. 9. (1) Concentrated cannabis means the resin extracted from
31 any part of the plant of the genus Cannabis and every compound,
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1 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of that resin.
2 This includes inhalable concentrates which may be comprised of cannabis
3 and other ingredients inside a device that uses a heating element to
4 create a vapor, including, but not limited to, vaporizer cartridges and
5 vaporizer pens.
6 (2) When resins extracted from hemp are in the possession of a
7 person as authorized under the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, they are not
8 considered concentrated cannabis for purposes of the Cannabis Control
9 Act.
10 Sec. 10. Cultivator means a person licensed by the commission to
11 cultivate cannabis plants pursuant to the Cannabis Control Act for sale
12 to cannabis stores, to products manufacturers, and to other cultivators,
13 but not to consumers.
14 Sec. 11. Disproportionately impacted area means an area within the
15 State of Nebraska that satisfies the following criteria, as determined by
16 the commission, in consultation with the Department of Economic
17 Development:
18 (1) The area meets at least one of the following criteria:
19 (a) The average poverty rate in the area is twenty percent or more
20 for the total federal census tract or tracts or federal census block
21 group or block groups in the area;
22 (b) Seventy-five percent or more of the children in the area qualify
23 for free or reduced-price lunches under United States Department of
24 Agriculture child nutrition programs;
25 (c) At least twenty percent of the households in the area receive
26 assistance under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
27 or
28 (d) The average rate of unemployment in the area during the period
29 covered by the most recent federal decennial census or American Community
30 Survey 5-Year Estimate by the United States Bureau of the Census is at
31 least one hundred fifty percent of the average rate of unemployment in
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1 the state during the same period; and
2 (2) The area has high rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration
3 related to the sale, possession, use, cultivation, manufacture, or
4 transport of cannabis.
5 Sec. 12. (1) Disqualifying offense means a felony, of which a
6 person was convicted in the preceding ten years, that is:
7 (a) A violent offense;
8 (b) A violation of the Cannabis Control Act; or
9 (c) A violation of subdivision (4)(a)(i) or subsection (5) of
10 section 28-416.
11 (2) An offense is not a disqualifying offense if it has been
12 pardoned, expunged, or set aside.
13 (3) For purposes of this section:
14 (a) Serious bodily injury has the same meaning as in section 28-109;
15 (b) Sexual contact and sexual penetration have the same meanings as
16 in section 28-318; and
17 (c) Violent offense means:
18 (i) A felony violation of any of the following sections: 28-303,
19 28-304, 28-305, 28-306, 28-308, 28-309, 28-310.01, 28-311, 28-311.01,
20 28-311.03, 28-311.08, 28-313, 28-314, 28-316.01, 28-319, 28-319.01,
21 28-320, 28-320.01, 28-320.02, 28-322.02, 28-322.03, 28-322.04, 28-322.05,
22 28-323, 28-324, 28-386, 28-391, 28-392, 28-393, 28-394, 28-397, 28-398,
23 28-502, 28-503, 28-507, 28-703, 28-707, 28-813.01, 28-831, 28-833,
24 28-904, 28-905, 28-912, 28-929, 28-930, 28-931, 28-931.01, 28-932,
25 28-933, 28-934, 28-1005, 28-1009, 28-1105.01, 28-1205, 28-1212.02,
26 28-1212.04, 28-1221, 28-1222, 28-1223, 28-1224, 28-1351, 28-1463.03,
27 28-1463.05, or 42-924;
28 (ii) An offense which is a Class IIIA felony or higher which
29 includes, as an element of the offense:
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;
3 (iii) Consists of attempt, conspiracy, being an accessory to, or
4 aiding and abetting a felony with any of the offenses described in
5 subdivision (3)(c)(i) or (ii) of this section as the underlying offense;
6 or
7 (iv) A felony offense that is substantially equivalent to an offense
8 described in subdivision (3)(c)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section under
9 the laws of another jurisdiction in the United States.
10 Sec. 13. Employment authorization means authorization granted by
11 the commission for an individual to work for a licensee as provided in
12 sections 164 to 168 of this act.
13 Sec. 14. Extraction means a process by which cannabinoids are
14 separated from cannabis plant material through chemical or physical
15 means.
16 Sec. 15. Hemp has the same meaning as in section 2-503.
17 Sec. 16. Immature plant means a nonflowering cannabis plant that
18 is:
19 (1) No taller than eight inches;
20 (2) No wider than eight inches;
21 (3) Produced from a cutting, clipping, or seedling; and
22 (4) In a cultivating container.
23 Sec. 17. Implementation date means a date selected by the
24 commission that is:
25 (1) After the commission has adopted rules and regulations necessary
26 to carry out the Cannabis Control Act; and
27 (2) On or before January 1, 2026.
28 Sec. 18. Infusion means a process by which cannabis, cannabinoids,
29 or concentrated cannabis is directly incorporated into a product
30 formulation to produce a cannabis product.
31 Sec. 19. Kief means the resinous trichomes of a cannabis plant that
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1 have been separated from the cannabis plant.
2 Sec. 20. License means a license issued by the commission pursuant
3 to the Cannabis Control Act. License does not include an employment
4 authorization or any other permit or certification issued by the
5 commission.
6 Sec. 21. Licensed premises means the premises specified in an
7 application for a license under the Cannabis Control Act, which are owned
8 by or in the possession of the licensee and within which the licensee is
9 authorized to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, sell, or test cannabis
10 in accordance with the Cannabis Control Act.
11 Sec. 22. Licensee means a person licensed by the commission
12 pursuant to the Cannabis Control Act.
13 Sec. 23. Local governing body means (1) the city council or village
14 board of trustees of a city or village within which the licensed premises
15 are located or (2) if the licensed premises are not within the corporate
16 limits of a city or village, the county board of the county within which
17 the licensed premises are located.
18 Sec. 24. Location means a particular parcel of land that may be
19 identified by an address or other descriptive means.
20 Sec. 25. Ordinance means any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or
21 other law duly enacted by a local governing body.
22 Sec. 26. Premises means a distinctly identified and definite
23 location, as required by the commission, and may include a building, a
24 part of a building, a room, or any other definite contiguous area.
25 Sec. 27. Private residence means a house, an apartment unit, a
26 mobile home, or other similar dwelling.
27 Sec. 28. Process or processing means to harvest, dry, cure, trim,
28 and separate parts of the cannabis plant by manual or mechanical means.
29 Sec. 29. Products manufacturer means a person licensed by the
30 commission to manufacture cannabis products pursuant to the Cannabis
31 Control Act for sale and distribution to cannabis stores and other
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1 products manufacturers, but not to consumers.
2 Sec. 30. School means a public, private, denominational, or
3 parochial preschool, elementary, vocational, or secondary school, a
4 private postsecondary career school as defined in section 85-1603, a
5 community college, a public or private college, a junior college, or a
6 university.
7 Sec. 31. (1) Social equity applicant means an applicant for a
8 license that meets the criteria described in either subsection (2) or (3)
9 of this section.
10 (2) An applicant shall be eligible to apply as