Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB1                                                                                   LB1
                                                                               2025
                                LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                             ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
                                     FIRST SESSION
                         LEGISLATIVE BILL 1
       Introduced by Executive Board: Hansen, 34, Chairperson.
       Read first time January 09, 2025
       Committee: General File
   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to medical cannabis; to amend section 2,
       Initiative Law 2024, No. 437, and section 2, Initiative Law 2024,
       No.   438;   to eliminate an   incorrect subdivision reference in
      provisions adopted by the voters at the statewide general election;
      to repeal the original sections; and to declare an emergency.
  Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
                                           -1-
LB1                                                                                                   LB1
                                                                                               2025
          Section 1.     Section 2, Initiative Law 2024, No. 437, is amended to
   read:
          Sec.   2.    For purposes of     the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient
   Protection Act:
          (1)(a) Allowable amount of cannabis means up to five ounces of
   cannabis.
          (b) Allowable amount of cannabis does not include the weight of any
   other ingredient combined with cannabis as   part of   topical or   oral
   administrations, food, drink, or other preparations;
          (2)(a) Cannabis means all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis
   whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any
   part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative,
   mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or its resin.
          (b) Cannabis includes marijuana, hashish, and concentrated cannabis.
          (c) Cannabis does not include hemp, as defined in section 2-503
   Section 2-503(13) of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, nor does it include
   the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or
   cake made from the seeds of the plant, the sterilized seed of the plant
   which is incapable of germination, or cannabidiol contained in a drug
   product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration;
          (3) Cannabis accessories means any equipment, products, or materials
   of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in
   storing, vaporizing, or containing cannabis, or for ingesting, inhaling,
   or otherwise introducing cannabis into the human body;
          (4) Caregiver means:
          (a) In the case of a qualified patient who is eighteen years of age
   or older and is not under the protection of a legal guardian, a person
   who:
          (i) Is at least twenty-one years of age; and
          (ii)   Has been designated by    a qualified patient in    a signed
   affidavit;
                                                   -2-
LB1                                                                                                               LB1
                                                                                                           2025
          (b) In the case of a qualified patient who is younger than eighteen
   years of age or a qualified patient under the protection of a legal
   guardian:
         (i) The legal guardian or parent with authority to make health care
  decisions of the qualified patient; or
          (ii) A person designated in a sworn affidavit by the legal guardian
   or parent with authority to make health care decisions; or
          (c) A health care facility as defined in section 71-413 or a home
  health agency as defined in section 71-417, if the facility or agency has
   been designated by a qualified patient or the legal guardian or parent
   with authority to make health care decisions of a qualified patient in a
   sworn affidavit and if the facility or agency has agreed in writing to
   serve as a caregiver for the qualified patient;
          (5)   Health care practitioner means       a physician,         an osteopathic
   physician, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner licensed under
  the Uniform Credentialing Act or    who is       licensed in    any state and
  practicing in compliance with the Uniform Credentialing Act;
         (6) Qualified patient means:
          (a) An individual eighteen years of age or older with a written
   recommendation from a health care practitioner; or
          (b) An individual younger than eighteen years of age with a written
   recommendation from    a health care practitioner and with the written
  permission of a legal guardian or parent with authority to make health
  care decisions for the individual; and
          (7)    Written recommendation means        a valid signed and dated
   declaration from a health care practitioner stating that, in the health
   care practitioner's professional judgment,         the potential benefits of
   cannabis outweigh the potential harms for the alleviation of a patient's
   medical condition,       its symptoms,       or side effects of       the condition's
   treatment. A written recommendation is valid for two years after the date
  of issuance or     for    a period of     time specified by    the health care
                                                      -3-
LB1                                                                                           LB1
                                                                                       2025
  practitioner on the written recommendation.
         Sec. 2.   Section 2, Initiative Law 2024, No. 438, is amended to
  read:
          Sec. 2. For purposes of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation
   Act:
         (1)(a) Cannabis means all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis
  whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any
   part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative,
   mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or its resin.
          (b) Cannabis includes marijuana, hashish, and concentrated cannabis.
          (c) Cannabis does not include hemp, as defined in section 2-503
   Section 2-503(13) of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, nor does it include
   the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or
   cake made from the seeds of the plant, the sterilized seed of the plant
  which is incapable of germination, or cannabidiol contained in a drug
  product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration;
         (2) Cannabis accessories means any equipment, products, or materials
   of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in
  planting,    propagating,      cultivating,      growing,    harvesting,     composting,
  manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing,
   testing,    analyzing,   packaging,        repackaging,     storing,    vaporizing,     or
  containing cannabis, or for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing
  cannabis into the human body;
          (3) Cannabis for medical purposes means cannabis, cannabis products,
   and cannabis accessories intended for qualified patients pursuant to any
   law enacted contemporaneously with the adoption of the Nebraska Medical
  Cannabis Regulation Act or   at any time thereafter and which makes
   penalties inapplicable to the use of cannabis by qualified patients for
  the alleviation of a medical condition, its symptoms, or side effects of
  the condition's treatment;
          (4) Cannabis products means products that are comprised of cannabis,
                                                 -4-
LB1                                                                                LB1
                                                                            2025
  cannabis concentrate, or cannabis extract, and other ingredients, and
   that are intended for use or consumption, such as, but not limited to,
   edible products, ointments, and tinctures;
       (5) Commission means the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission;
       (6)   Registered cannabis establishment means   a private entity
   registered pursuant to the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act that
   possesses, manufactures, distributes, delivers, or dispenses cannabis for
   medical purposes; and
       (7) Registration means a registration granted by the commission to a
  private entity that processes, manufactures, distributes, delivers, or
  dispenses cannabis for medical purposes.
      Sec. 3.    Original section 2, Initiative Law 2024, No. 437, and
  section 2, Initiative Law 2024, No. 438, are repealed.
       Sec. 4.    Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when
   passed and approved according to law.
                                          -5-
