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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 71
Introduced by McKinney, 11; Conrad, 46.
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 Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue
17 Allocation Act; to remove cannabis as a controlled substance under
18 the Uniform Controlled Substances Act; to change provisions relating
19 to penalties for possession of a synthetic cannabinoid and drug
20 paraphernalia; to define, redefine, and eliminate terms; to change
21 provisions relating to termination of parental rights, visitation,
22 custody, and other parenting matters; to prohibit possession of an
23 open container of cannabis in a motor vehicle; to provide for the
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1 applicability of the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act and the Nebraska
2 Pure Food Act; to impose a higher sales and use tax rate on sales of
3 cannabis; to provide for the distribution of tax revenue; to remove
4 cannabis from the cannabis and controlled substances tax; to rename
5 a fund; to adopt the Cannabis Conviction Relief Act; 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 193 of this act shall be known and may be
2 cited as the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation Act.
3 Sec. 2. For purposes of the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and
4 Revenue Allocation Act, the definitions found in sections 3 to 36 of this
5 act apply.
6 Sec. 3. (1) Cannabis means all parts of the plant of the genus
7 Cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound,
8 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, extract, or preparation of such
9 plant or its seeds.
10 (2) Cannabis includes cannabis in all forms, including, but not
11 limited to, cannabis products and concentrated cannabis.
12 (3) Cannabis does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber
13 produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant,
14 any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or
15 preparation of such mature stalks, the sterilized seed of such plant
16 which is incapable of germination, or cannabidiol contained in a drug
17 product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
18 (4) Cannabis does not include hemp.
19 (5) When the weight of cannabis is referred to in the Nebraska
20 Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation 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 Control 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 Nebraska Cannabis
9 Legalization and Revenue Allocation Act.
10 Sec. 10. Cultivator means a person licensed by the commission to
11 cultivate cannabis plants pursuant to the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization
12 and Revenue Allocation Act for sale to cannabis stores, to products
13 manufacturers, and to other cultivators, but not to consumers.
14 Sec. 11. (1) Disproportionately impacted area means an area within
15 the State of Nebraska that satisfies the following criteria, as
16 determined by the commission, in consultation with the Department of
17 Economic Development:
18 (a) The area meets at least one of the following criteria:
19 (i) 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 (ii) Seventy-five percent or more of the children in the area
23 qualify for free or reduced-price lunches under United States Department
24 of Agriculture child nutrition programs;
25 (iii) At least twenty percent of the households in the area receive
26 assistance under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
27 or
28 (iv) 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 (b) The area has experienced significant, negative impacts from the
3 war on drugs.
4 (2)(a) For purposes of this section, the war on drugs means the
5 campaign led by the United States federal government, and supported by
6 the state of Nebraska and local governments, to reduce the illegal drug
7 trade. This campaign included policies and initiatives aimed at reducing
8 the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs, often
9 characterized by strict law enforcement, drug prohibition, and criminal
10 justice measures.
11 (b) The Legislature finds that the war on drugs lead to significant
12 negative impacts on disadvantaged communities, including
13 disproportionately high incarceration rates, long-term socio-economic
14 disadvantages, and the destabilization of families and communities in
15 Nebraska.
16 Sec. 12. (1) Disqualifying offense means a felony, of which a
17 person was convicted in the preceding ten years, that is:
18 (a) A sexual offense; or
19 (b) A felony violation of the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and
20 Revenue Allocation Act.
21 (2) An offense is not a disqualifying offense if it has been
22 pardoned, expunged, or set aside.
23 (3) For purposes of this section:
24 (a) Sexual contact and sexual penetration have the same meanings as
25 in section 28-318; and
26 (b) Sexual offense means:
27 (i) A felony violation of any of the following sections: 28-319,
28 28-319.01, 28-320, 28-320.01, 28-320.02, 28-322.02, 28-322.03, 28-322.04,
29 28-322.05, 28-323, 28-324, 28-703, 28-1463.03, or 28-1463.05;
30 (ii) An offense which is a Class IIIA felony or higher which
31 includes, as an element of the offense, sexual contact or sexual
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1 penetration;
2 (iii) An offense that consists of attempt, conspiracy, being an
3 accessory to, or aiding and abetting a felony with any of the offenses
4 described in subdivision (3)(b)(i) or (ii) of this section as the
5 underlying offense; or
6 (iv) A felony offense that is substantially equivalent to an offense
7 described in subdivision (3)(b)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section under
8 the laws of another jurisdiction in the United States.
9 Sec. 13. Employment authorization means authorization granted by
10 the commission for an individual to work for a licensee as provided in
11 sections 168 to 173 of this act.
12 Sec. 14. Extraction means a process by which cannabinoids are
13 separated from cannabis plant material through chemical or physical
14 means.
15 Sec. 15. Hemp has the same meaning as in section 2-503.
16 Sec. 16. Immature plant means a nonflowering cannabis plant that
17 is:
18 (1) No taller than eight inches;
19 (2) No wider than eight inches;
20 (3) Produced from a cutting, clipping, or seedling; and
21 (4) In a cultivating container.
22 Sec. 17. Implementation date means a date selected by the
23 commission that is:
24 (a) After the commission has adopted rules and regulations necessary
25 to carry out the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation
26 Act; and
27 (b) 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 Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation Act. License
4 does not include an employment authorization or any other permit or
5 certification issued by the commission.
6 Sec. 21. Licensed premises means the premises specified in an
7 application for a license under the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and
8 Revenue Allocation Act, which are owned by or in the possession of the
9 licensee and within which the licensee is authorized to cultivate,
10 manufacture, distribute, sell, or test cannabis in accordance with the
11 Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation Act.
12 Sec. 22. Licensee means a person licensed by the commission
13 pursuant to the Nebraska Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation
14 Act.
15 Sec. 23. Local governing body means (1) the city council or village
16 board of trustees of a city or village within which the licensed premises
17 are located or (2) if the licensed premises are not within the corporate
18 limits of a city or village, the county board of the county within which
19 the licensed premises are located.
20 Sec. 24. Location means a particular parcel of land that may be
21 identified by an address or other descriptive means.
22 Sec. 25. Ordinance means any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or
23 other law duly enacted by a local governing body.
24 Sec. 26. Premises means a distinctly identified and definite
25 location, as required by the commission, and may include a building, a
26 part of a building, a room, or any other definite contiguous area.
27 Sec. 27. Private residence means a house, an apartment unit, a
28 mobile home, or other similar dwelling.
29 Sec. 28. Process or processing means to harvest, dry, cure, trim,
30 and separate parts of the cannabis plant by manual or mechanical means.
31 Sec. 29. Products manufacturer means a person licensed by the
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1 commission to manufacture cannabis products pursuant to the Nebraska
2 Cannabis Legalization and Revenue Allocation Act for sale and
3 distribution to cannabis stores and other products manufacturers, but not
4 to consumers.
5 Sec. 30. School means a public, private, denominational, or
6 parochial preschool, elementary, vocational, or secondary school, a
7 private postsecondary career school as defined in section 85-1603, a
8 community college, a public or private college, a junior college, or a
9 university.
10 Sec. 31. (1) Social equity applicant means an