Nebraska Lawmaker Proposes Elected Medical Cannabis Commission as Rollout Stalls

12 January 2026

Nebraska lawmakers are weighing a new approach to who should oversee the state’s medical cannabis program, as patient advocates and supporters of the 2024 ballot measure continue to press for faster implementation.

On Friday, Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh introduced Legislative Bill 934, which would make the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission an elected body rather than one shaped largely by gubernatorial appointment. The bill comes as the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis system, passed in the 2024 general election, is still being built and the start of the program, as one report puts it, “still seems a ways off.”

Under the current law approved by voters, cannabis is legal for medical purposes up to 5 ounces with a health care practitioner’s recommendation. That same measure created the Medical Cannabis Commission and gave it “exclusive” authority to regulate medical cannabis. The commission has five members, and three members of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission automatically serve on the Medical Cannabis Commission. Other membership is tied directly or indirectly to the governor.

Cavanaugh argues that structure has left too much power in the executive branch. He said voters “deserve to have more input,” and he framed elected commissioners as a way to create a board that is directly accountable to the public. He also said Gov. Jim Pillen and his appointees have “definitely frustrated” the goal of building a functioning system.

LB934 would not change the commission overnight. The bill would keep the commission operating under its current structure through Jan. 4, 2029. But it would require elections for five commissioners beginning in 2028, with four-year terms and a nonpartisan ballot. District lines would follow the five Public Service Commission districts. The bill calls for staggered terms, with elections for districts one, three, and five in 2028 and then every four years. Districts two and four would be elected in 2028 and again in 2030, and then every four years thereafter. If a vacancy occurs, the governor would still fill it by appointment.

For patients, the immediate impact is indirect, but it’s tied to a real-world problem. The commission is writing regulations expected to allow legal in-state sales, and Cavanaugh and others point to reports that many Nebraskans have struggled to find in-state physicians willing to recommend medical cannabis. That issue has become central because the 2024 law requires a health care practitioner’s recommendation for legal access.

Cavanaugh filed a second bill aimed at that bottleneck. Legislative Bill 933, introduced with Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would protect health care practitioners from criminal, civil, or disciplinary action solely for recommending medical cannabis. Cavanaugh said the goal is to reduce fear of retribution and what he described as a chilling effect on professional judgment.

LB934 has been referred to the General Affairs Committee. For now, the broader question remains open: whether lawmakers will embrace an elected commission model as a way to speed up implementation and rebuild trust, or keep the commission structure largely as voters set it up in 2024.