The Nebraska Supreme Court voted on Sept. 10 whether to include medical marijuana and a gambling expansion on this year’s general election ballot. 

The Court decided to block medical marijuana but include the gambling expansion. Two out of the seven judges disagreed with this conclusion. 

“If voters are to intelligently adopt a State policy with regard to medicinal cannabis use, they must first be allowed to decide that issue alone, unencumbered by other subjects. As proposed, the NMCCA [Nebraska Medical Cannabis Constitutional Amendment] contains more than one subject–by our count, it contains at least eight subjects,” the Court’s statement said. 

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner challenged the inclusion of the NMCCA on the ballot from the beginning. He believed it would confuse voters because of all the provisions included in the single initiative. 

According to KETV Omaha news, Wagner’s attorney Mark Fahleson said “the amendment could give legal immunity to those who produce and sell marijuana, while also providing access to marijuana products for medical use.”

The Court reconsidered the initiative and decided the risk of abusing medical marijuana outweighed the substance’s medical benefits. 

In regard to the gambling expansion, Nebraska citizens will be able to vote on whether or not to expand gambling at the state’s horse racing tracks. 

The last day to finalize decisions on these two matters was Sept. 11, but many Nebraska representatives and political leaders are strongly opposed to even reconsidering the NMCCA.