“Nebraskas have a choice. They can vote with compassion and empathy, or they can refuse to vote.”
Zach Wendling, Nebraska State Examiner
For more than a decade, parents and patients have advocated for access to legal medical marijuana for struggling Nebraskans, including Shelley and Dominic Guillen, who want options for their son Will. I've done it.
The Gillens argue that regulated marijuana doesn't kill people, it's the seizures that do. They said their son suffers from multiple types of seizures every day due to a rare disease that makes treatment extremely difficult. Dominic Guillen said his son's recent medication change resulted in a two-week stay in hospital and left him with a “very real fear that he was going to die.”
“I've had seizures that have caused me to call 911, end up in the ER, and have to be hospitalized,” Shelley Gillen said during a hearing related to two medical marijuana measures on Nebraska's ballot this fall. There are too many to count,” he said. “The attack was traumatic for our entire family.”
The law has been advocated for more than a decade, including a stalled bill dubbed “Will's Law” in the early 2010s by former state Sen. Sue Crawford (D) of Bellevue. During that time, Will Gillen suffered numerous black eyes, staples and stitches in his head, concussions, knocked out teeth, a broken nose, a broken jaw, and a near-fatal liver injury, according to the Gillens. He reportedly suffered lacerations.
Will's siblings are first responders and his parents “carefully checked his breathing throughout the night and in the morning to make sure he didn't die of an undetected fatal attack.”
The Guillens were among more than a dozen Nebraskans who testified Friday at a public hearing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to vote in the upcoming general election amid ongoing legal challenges. appealed to Nebraskans to support Initiative Measures 437 and 438.
The measure would legalize medical marijuana for patients, caregivers and health care workers, and would regulate the plant under the newly created Nebraska Medical Marijuana Commission.
Over the past decade, seven bills have been introduced, three consecutive election cycles, five petitions, and more than 700,000 signatures from voters seeking voting opportunities.
“These efforts are about them, and Nov. 5 will be about them,” said Krista Eggers, the effort’s statewide campaign manager. His elementary school-age son suffers from severe epilepsy and seizures.
Not yet approved by the federal government
Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson (R) was the only opponent at Friday's hearing. Hanson said the ballot measure contradicts federal law and circumvents “proven and important patient protections” formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“The entire patient-centric system is being bypassed in favor of a consumer-driven commercial industry, and there are no safeguards in place to prevent the diversion of THC to authorized users, including adolescents, much less protect the health and safety of patients.” I can't protect you,” Hanson testified.
Mr. Hanson held up a 12-ounce red Solo cup and said that if someone was in possession of five ounces of concentrated THC, which is legal under Act 437, it would be considered a felony, and if he or his representative had any of the following symptoms: He said that if he encountered someone with this, the amount would be distributed. That amount.
Hanson said he supports reclassifying marijuana, which is currently on the same level as heroin, LSD and ecstasy, because of the federal regulations, testing and dosing requirements.
He also noted that the American Medical Association and other major organizations oppose citizen-led medical marijuana legalization.
The U.S. Department of Justice has officially moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which could aid FDA approval. Thirty-eight states have legalized medical marijuana, including 24 states and Washington, DC, which have also legalized recreational use. Other states, including Nebraska, have restricted access to cannabis products that contain little or no THC, according to the Pew Research Center.
Potential clinical applications
Norfolk nurse Angie Cornett clearly remembers the first time in a clinical setting, more than 10 years ago, that a patient was able to disclose that she was illegally using cannabis to control seizures. he said.
“This won't be the last time,” Cornett said.
Opioids and other prescription drugs can cause life-threatening conditions, including addiction, Cornett and others testified, and can cause a variety of conditions including seizures, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel disease, chronic pain, Parkinson's disease and cancer. It highlights stories of cannabis being used for symptoms such as: , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), arthritis, or burn injury in veterans.
Heidi Smith testified that she watched her father suffer from multiple sclerosis as a child and described the side effects of the drugs her father was taking, including severe nausea. But Smith's father, a farmer, couldn't take time off from work, so he eventually stopped taking the drug.
“Farming was our family's main source of income. He did everything necessary to support our family,” Smith testified.
“Choice” for patients and families
Smith said her father, a “conservative, rules-abiding Republican,” pushed state officials to consider plant-based medicine in the 1990s, but didn't tell anyone in the family. In 1996, he planted a crop, but when it came time to harvest, he could not walk and had to ask his neighbors to help him.
Although he died in 2003 at the age of 52, Smith said he signed the 2020 petition as soon as possible.
“These are hard-working Nebraskans who want a high quality of life and want to provide for their families,” Smith said. “Unless you have a medical condition, 'Nebraska, The Good Life.'”
“My entire life experience has been marked by pain,” said Genevieve Zwicky, who suffers from a multisystemic genetic disease with symptoms that become severe and life-threatening.
Zwicky, a single parent of a child with the same condition and a mental and behavioral health professional, uses cannabis to manage her symptoms, but she wakes up in agony every day, and changes her routine every week. He said he needed help with medical examinations and numerous medications. Their planners are “overflowing.”
“Don't you understand that going after these particular people is demonizing you?” Zwicky said. “Can't you see that you're poking the bear with far more force and stamina than you've ever seen or ever hope to encounter again?”
According to Cornett and others, the “choices” for suffering Nebraskans are to leave Nebraska and go to a neighboring state, continue to suffer, or turn to criminals to obtain the medication they believe they need. He said he would risk being prosecuted for the crime.
“When patients told us their stories, we treated them as patients, not as criminals,” Cornett said. “Research validates these patient anecdotes.”
Ongoing legal challenges
John Kuehn, a former Republican state senator and former member of the state Board of Health, is challenging the medical marijuana petition in Lancaster County District Court. Kuehn claims the petition did not have enough signatures to be valid.
Kuehn's lawsuit names Eggers, state Sen. Anna Wishart (D), and former state Sen. Adam Morfeld (D), along with Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evenen (R). His name was mentioned in the paper, and his signature on the bill was verified. Voting on November 5th.
Mr. Kuehn disputes his signatures, and Mr. Evnen and Republican Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who has opposed medical marijuana, filed a countersuit in a case led by Mr. Kuehn. Evnen and Hilgers are targeting about a dozen people, including petition circulaters and notaries, for alleged “fraud” or “misconduct.”
The trial begins Tuesday before District Court Judge Susan Strong. The measure remains on the ballot.
“Who will take care of him?”
Marcy Reed of Blair, a volunteer with the medical marijuana vote campaign, asked Friday if opponents had ever seen children having seizures. Her 11-year-old son, Kyler, has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy, and receives mediation multiple times each day.
“Who will take care of him, or if he develops kidney problems or other illnesses due to the medications he is currently taking?” Reid asked. “It's me, it's me who cares. I'm the one who has to deal with it, not you. I will continue to fight for what I believe is best for my child.”
Reed told the Nebraska Examiner that he was “really angry” that authorities were targeting the campaign.
In 2020, the movement gathered enough signatures, but the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a legal challenge that said the single constitutional amendment at the time was too broad. The campaign later split its effort into two petitions, but was unable to reach its goal in 2022, in part due to a lack of funds to pay volunteers after the death of a major donor.
This is the farthest this campaign has come.
“Knowing that our group can take part in campaigns for the most vulnerable, mothers with children who have had seizures, people with health problems, we know we don’t have a lot of money. “I think anything goes. It's not fair what happens in politics,” Reid said.
“The Story of David vs. Goliath”
Dominic Guillen and Reed questioned why only marijuana petitions were reviewed where there was no request to remove Nebraskans' names from the measure.
At the end of Friday's hearing, Eggers led a two-minute period for parents, patients, volunteers and other attendees to share who they were fighting for, with more than 20 names shouted out. It was discovered.
Mr. Eggers said this represents one part of the story in which initiative measures 437 and 438 may offer hope.
“Nebraskas have a choice. They can vote with compassion and empathy, or they can turn away,” Eggers testified. “And for those who have turned their backs, I want you to know that patients with this condition have blood on their hands.”
Dominic Guillen said any attempt to block the effort would be a “stain” on the state in “the true David vs. Goliath story that needs to be told.”
“In a moment of despair, one of the children inspired me to remember how the story ended,” Dominic Guillen said. “I continue to pray that my heart does not harden, and I ask all of our supporters not to quit five minutes before a miracle happens.”
This article was first published by Nebraska Examiner.
Nearly 6 in 10 Nebraska voters support legalizing medical marijuana on next month's ballot, new poll finds
Photo by Mike Latimer.
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