A Nebraska district judge says a legal challenge over two medical cannabis measures may not be resolved in time for the Nov. 5 election.
The case surrounds claims that many of the signatures included in two petitions related to medical cannabis ballot initiatives are suspected of being invalid due to fraud.
Nearly 90,000 petition signatures were certified by the Nebraska secretary of state, but the lawsuit, filed in September, challenges about 17,000 signatures per petition. The secretary of state has questioned 49,000 signatures per petition, citing fraud and notary malfeasance.
The suit alleges that thousands of signatures should have been discarded either because the signers were not registered voters, duplicative signatures, improper notarizations, improper circulator payment disclosures or incomplete voter information.
A district court judge recently proposed splitting the trial into two phases. The first phase will assess whether enough signatures can be invalidated due to errors or fraud claims. If enough signatures are challenged, the second phase would then allow petitioners to defend the signatures. The Attorney General’s Office will be bringing in a handwriting expert to analyze the petitions.
While the attorneys for the initiatives’ sponsors expressed concern that the trial could negatively impact voters who might get the impression the initiative would be invalidated, the judge said the trial timeline would provide fairness to both sides and that the measures would still remain on the ballot.
California hemp industry takes a hit
A California court has denied a request to block emergency regulations banning consumable hemp products in the state.
The emergency rules would ban all hemp products with detectable amounts of THC. Hemp industry stakeholders filed a request for a temporary restraining order, arguing the new rules would cause irreparable harm to businesses.
But earlier this month, a judge ruled that monetary losses do not constitute “irreparable harm” and that public safety outweighs the economic needs of the hemp industry.
In a news release, California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the court’s decision, saying the ban would protect public health and prevent unregulated hemp THC products from being sold to children. He said industry concerns are “more about protecting their profit than the public.”
The state’s hemp industry leaders say they plan to continue the legal battle.
Oklahoma police seize more than 21,000 weed plants
Last week, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) Marijuana Enforcement Teams reportedly seized 21,360 marijuana plants and 518 pounds of processed marijuana from illicit weed farms that obtained their OBN registrations through fraud.
The OBN said the raids were part of an ongoing investigation into so-called “straw ownership” schemes in which out-of-state financiers bypass Oklahoma laws requiring that all cannabis businesses be locally owned by recruiting state residents to pose as business owners. At least one person was arrested during the raids.
Officials told reporters there might be more arrests and seizures in the future.
Medical cannabis is legal in Oklahoma, but recreational weed is not.