Nebraska lawmakers last week voted 30-7 to pass a bill that would protect medical providers from criminal, civil, or disciplinary penalties “solely” for authorizing a patient for medical cannabis, Nebraska Public Media reports. The proposal, authored by state Sen. John Cavanaugh (D) would allow doctors to participate in the medical cannabis program without fear of reprisal.
“When someone meets with their doctor and has a conversation with them, the doctor can say, ‘Listen, cannabis is something that could help with this particular ailment,’ and… they can decide to recommend it, and for that act of recommendation, can’t lose their license.” — Cavanaugh, during debate on the measure, via Nebraska Public Media
State Sen. Bob Anderson (R) argued that the bill would allow “any fly-in doctor” to “set up a clinic on a corner” and allow them to write medical cannabis patient recommendations. Cavanaugh countered that someone could already do that under state law and that his proposal attempts “to make sure that the legitimate doctors are protected.”
“The folks who are doing those fly-by-night sort of situations would not be protected because they would not be following a standard of care,” he said during the debate.
A proposed amendment that would have required practitioners to write recommendations based on the “most current scientific evidence” failed 22-19.
The measure still has two rounds of debate before final approval or disapproval.
