Nebraska´s Governor is strongly against cannabis legalization

As Nebraska state lawmakers consider a bill to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, Republicans Gov. Pete Ricketts is using fear tactics in his campaign against the measure. During a public appearance on Wednesday, Ricketts said that cannabis "will kill your children," despite the fact that cannabis has never been credibly linked to a fatal overdose. "It's a dangerous drug that will affect our children. If you legalize marijuana, you will kill your children," Ricketts said. "That's what the data shows across the country. Don't legalize marijuana in the state of Nebraska." To back up his ridiculous claim, Ricketts cited the placement of marijuana on Schedule 1 under the Controlled Substances Act along with heroin, a designation intended only to apply to drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high propensity for addiction. Ricketts added that medical marijuana legalization is a "dangerous" attempt to bypass the normal drug approval process. "Big Pot, Big Marijuana is a big industry," Ricketts said. "This is a big industry that is trying not to be regulated in order to bypass the regulatory process. And that will put people at risk: by circumventing regulations that are meant for the health and safety of our society." Ricketts made the comments at an appearance with former University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and other state and local leaders to oppose a bill by State Senator Anna Wishart that would legalize the medical use of cannabis. At a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Wishart noted that the measure resembles a bill that was introduced last year but made no progress in the state legislature. "But a lot has changed in the hearts and minds of countless Nebraskers affected by those words," Wishart said. Rickett's statements were quickly rejected by cannabis activists, who compared them to the anti-marijuana film Reefer Madness. Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said Ricketts' views are unfounded. "Governor Ricketts' comments are so hair-raising they are almost parody. When I saw them, I had to check my calendar to make sure it was still 2021, not 1950," Altieri said. "His claims are not supported by the science or the real world experiences of the more than a dozen states that have already legalized marijuana for adult use, they seem to exist only in his troubled imagination."