Nebraska judge’s ruling edges the state closer to legalizing medical marijuana

A judge’s ruling Tuesday brought Nebraska one step closer to legalizing medical marijuana. The question was whether proponents followed the law in collecting signatures to put legalization on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong’s decision was a victory for medical marijuana advocates, but opponents are likely to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“To succeed in this case, the plaintiff and the secretary had to demonstrate that more than 3,463 signatures on the Legalization Petition and 3,357 signatures on the Regulatory Petition are invalid. The plaintiff and the secretary are far short of the mark,” Strong wrote.

A spokesperson for the Nebraska attorney general said the office’s attorneys were reviewing the ruling and considering whether to appeal.

More than two-thirds of Nebraska voters supported legalization in the Nov. 5 election. The results are expected to be certified on December 2.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers argue that problems with the way thousands of signatures were collected meant that the ballot initiatives should not have been submitted to voters. One person who distributed petitions on Grand Island was criminally charged with forging at least 164 signatures. Evnen, Hilgers and former Sen. John Kuehn also raised questions about whether other signatures were properly notarized.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana argued in court that even if some of the signatures collected were flawed, the group still had more than the 86,000 needed. In total, the group said it had collected about 114,000 signatures to allow marijuana for medical use and created a committee to regulate it.