OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Despite overwhelming approval from Nebraska voters to legalize medical marijuana last November, there are still no state-licensed dispensaries to buy the product.
Critics of the state’s licensing commission believe the state’s restrictive regulations are making getting involved in growing, producing, transporting or selling medical marijuana financially unattractive.
A once-potential grower said all the political and legal squabbling is not worth getting involved in the medical marijuana business in Nebraska.
They don’t grow hemp anymore at Omaha Grown Hemp. Waschkowski is the owner here. Now she’s concentrating on her business bread and butter.
“I’m selling gardening plants, bedding plants, annuals, things like that. You got to come in every year, get it. Annual, you got to come in every year, you know, come see me,” said Danielle Waschkowski, Estate Landscape Services.
Danielle was in the hemp business for about four years, growing, processing and selling oil, creams and other hemp-based products.
When Nebraska voters approved medical marijuana, Danielle thought it was an opportunity to grow her business. But after watching the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission work, she didn’t even apply for a license to grow medical marijuana.
“We were excited. We were so excited that was the next step in the process. The reason why we kept the CBD license so long and kept going for an extra year when we weren’t really making a dollar. We thought OK, here’s the chance where we can make it profitable. But the rules and regulations are not going to make it profitable for us at all,” she said.
Danielle believes the state’s cannabis commission has set up very tight regulations, calling for different licenses for every step from growing to transporting and selling medical marijuana.
“I want to be, I want to do the whole thing,” she said. “I have to bring a middleman in here. I don’t want to have a middleman in here. I want to do it all myself. I don’t need a middleman in here to sell petunia. I don’t need a middleman to sell a landscape to you, but to sell that plant, I do. We’re just not going to do it.”
Danielle said she will concentrate on selling bedding plants and her landscaping business and stay out of the medical marijuana business for now.
“We’re not even going to try it. We’re going to let other people try it and see what happens and then if we want to get in the game later we’ll try it then,” she said.
With a doctor’s approval, Nebraska residents can possess cannabis for medical purposes. The program still faces legal, regulatory and political challenges, and right now no state-licensed dispensaries are in operation.
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