LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Nebraska’s medical cannabis laws could soon be protected from federal interference after all, under a proposed U.S. House spending bill released Wednesday.
The U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies released the text of its fiscal year 2027 spending bill this week. Congress has annually passed a provision preventing the U.S. Department of Justice and related agencies from using federal dollars to interfere with state medical marijuana laws since 2014.
Nebraska voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize and regulate medical cannabis in 2024.
Yet when the latest spending bill passed in January, Congress did not add Nebraska to the noninterference list, which covered 47 states under Section 531 of the act.
It was the first time a state had not been added to the list after voters or state leaders acted — leaving Nebraska in a gray area as the voter-created Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission moves forward with licensing and writing regulations.
Each state must be explicitly protected because of the country’s federalist system. The other two states without protections, Kansas and Idaho, lack state medical cannabis programs.
Also included in the latest bill, in Section 591, is language seeking to prevent any federal dollars appropriated under the act from being used to reschedule, or reclassify, marijuana under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
Last week, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche immediately downgraded state-licensed medical marijuana and U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III. Federal officials are also restarting a public hearing process meant to downgrade marijuana generally from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug.
Schedule I drugs, such as heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote, are drugs the federal government has classified with a high likelihood of abuse and no currently accepted medical value. Schedule III drugs are defined as those with moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and testosterone.
Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation has not explained how or why Nebraska was left off the previous spending bill.
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., have opposed marijuana rescheduling at the federal level, as have Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers on the state level.
President Donald Trump, who is calling for rescheduling, has endorsed all four Nebraska officials for reelection this year. He’s also endorsed U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.
Ricketts last week told the Nebraska Examiner that he remains “committed to combatting the growing public health and safety threat marijuana poses.
Though Ricketts did not specify his future steps, he joined U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., on April 20 to introduce the “Marijuana Impact on Medicaid Act of 2026.” The bill seeks to require the U.S. secretary of health and human services to collect data and publicly report to Congress on the cost of hospital and emergency room visits related to marijuana use on Medicaid.
Pillen said rescheduling would not alter the work of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission. A Hilgers spokesperson said the AG’s Office was reviewing the rescheduling decision.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is not seeking reelection this year, struck a different tone. He told the Examiner he supports rescheduling “as it is necessary to allow for further research.”
“Schedule I classification restricts the ability of scientists and doctors to conduct proper research into marijuana in a way that is counterproductive,” Bacon said last week. “As long as individual state laws regarding legality are not preempted, I support this move by the administration.”
The bill will need to work its way through the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and pass both chambers of Congress before it can reach Trump’s desk.
Nebraska Examineris part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions:info@nebraskaexaminer.com.
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