Backers of a petition drive aimed at making medical marijuana legal in Nebraska, are hoping the third time is the charm.

Two previous drives failed, one was thrown out by the courts, the second unable to get the required number of names.

The third medical marijuana petition drive in Nebraska in four years looks a lot like the first two and the arguments for and against have changed little if any over the years. 

(2020) Crista Eggers, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana: “I’m pleading with you, not as a campaign manager but as a mom who has a seven-year-old little boy who desperately, desperately as so many patients do in this state need an option for us to talk with his doctor about medical cannabis as a treatment option.”

(2018) Joe Jordan, NCN: “You’ve got kids, if God forbid, one of them had some type of debilitating disease and was in pain, suffering—you tried everything you could—wouldn’t you like the opportunity to try something like medical marijuana to see if that would alleviate our child’s pain and suffering?” 

Sen. Pete Ricketts (then Governor): “Well, I’ve sat down with the families, and they are very sympathetic.  To protect the pubic safety you really have to make sure it goes through the FDA process.”

According to the pro-medical marijuana crowd, the first petition drive in 2020, which eventually ran right into Covid, had gathered 14,212 signatures by this time. 

In 2022, 16,328 names. So far this year, organizers say they’ve got 70,671.

They need roughly 87,000 valid signatures by early July to make the November ballot.