LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska’s first Medical Marijuana Commissioners have been approved.
Gov. Jim Pillen put forward Dr. Monica Oldenburg and Lorelle Mueting as his picks for the new panel earlier this month.
Oldenburg was confirmed on a 34-11-1 vote; Mueting was confirmed on a 27-16-1 vote.
The two women appeared in front of the General Affairs Committee last week. Once debate wrapped, the committee voted to present the Legislature with a 5-3 vote in favor of Oldenburg, and a 4-4 split vote for Mueting.
Committee members had a lot of questions for the two picks during individual hearings held just two days after Nebraska lawmakers rejected a bill to regulate medical marijuana.
Without any guidance on regulation coming from the Legistlature, Mueting and Oldenburg as well as the three members of the state Liquor Control Commission will be the officials who create the rules and regulations for medical cannabis.
Questions have since arisen about the liquor board since its two remaining members — one termed out earlier in the week — voted to suspend the commission’s executive director without pay during an emergency meeting on Thursday. No further details were provided during the meeting which lasted about three minutes, but Chairman Bruce Bailey said this decision was made after a federal search warrant was served at the office of Liquor Control Commission on Wednesday.
Opponents of Mueting and Oldenburg have pointed out that both women have testified against medical cannabis in the past.
Mueting told the committee she wasn’t planning to be an obstacle in the regulation process.
“The voters have spoken. Medical marijuana is what people in Nebraska voted for. I don’t view my role in this to try and squash it because i don’t have the power to do that,” she said during hear hearing.
Oldenburg spoke about the concerns over her appointment.
“I think we need to look at research, and there is some research with some of these conditions that show that it helps,” she said last week. “That is going to be on the commission with collaborating with both the public, Nebraska Medical Society, other physicians and saying, ‘Where is our research going? Is this a good condition to help with?’”
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Nebraska’s first Medical Marijuana Commissioners have been approved. Read More
