Medical Marijuana Postponed Indefinitely After Overwhelming Support from the People

The people have spoken, is this a fair play from the NE Legislature?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Emery Sunger here from I'm actually broadcasting from a different
building today. The big meeting, as far as today goes on,
is the Big Beautiful Bill. The big beautiful Bill. A
lot of spending in that bill. A lot of people
in the Republican Party says, how am I supposed to
go back to my constituents and find a way to

(00:20):
explain to them exactly what's going on here?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Matt.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
When you hear big beautiful Bill, what is the first
thing that you think of? What should if the Donald
Trump is saying that this is like the most important
and the biggest bill that would could be signed in
American history, So what would you like our government to
have in it?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
To be completely honest, The first thing I think of
is that's probably what Jordan Hudson has in her phone
for her No.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
No, I heard that. That's the first they got engaged, right.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
And I'm I'm a little bit shocked and dismayed. You
didn't lead right off with that when you said big
beautiful Bill, I thought, here we go. He's leading off
with the biggest thing that happened today. No, No, And
it was the old bait and switch. I do not care,
But but what do you think the chances are of
Jordan Hudson In her phone when she receives a text
from her new fiance, it says message from big Beautiful Bill.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
I would be surprised that she would have that in there,
but I don't want to. I can't figure out what
they're up to. I have no idea what their relationship is.
You and I maybe we disagree on this. I have
no problem with age gaps in relationships. If you have
a good fit with somebody that like cool for you.
There's something weird going on with these two. And I
Clay and Buck led with this. I mean, if you

(01:36):
listen at Claim Buck at eleven o'clock, they led with this.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Whoa, they did well.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
They didn't talk about it that long, but they just
mentioned that this was something that popped up.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
It's like, yeah, it's notable. It's notable.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
You know why, because this is you could make the
argument the most successful football coach of all time and
he's dating a twenty four year old who's like managing
his life.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Now it's weird.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
And he's coaching college football and recruiting for the first time.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
It's weird. It feels weird. I don't like it.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, I think that's a pretty good summation of the
whole situation.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Anyway, that's not the bill that I'm looking for. I'm
talking about the provisions of this bill and the dynamics
of the opposition. There are many many people in the
very fiscal conservative realm that are like, Yo, there's a
lot of spending in this This could mess up our
national debt. However, I think that there's a lot to
be had here because I think if we're having a

(02:27):
good discussion about it, Donald Trump seems to think that
this is going to get done by the end of
the week. We did have some people who were in
this big meeting with all these big Republicans and they
were chatting about what needs to happen to get this
thing done. Today sounds like where it could get done,
but it's not there yet, and it's not really even
that close yet. Now again, you need basically all the

(02:50):
Republicans to be on the same page here because they're
just this too slim u a margin, and you know,
the Democrats are going to vote down anything that's brought
up by the Republicans here. And I guess before we
get like and I don't even need to get into
the particulars. The reason that this is such a big
deal is literally because this is kind of cementing part
of what Donald Trump wants to make happen with tax cuts.

(03:12):
He wants to make sure that they become permanent. There
are parts of this that some Republicans feel like if
a Democrat takes the presidency in some time in the
near future, whether it's twenty eight or thirty two or whatever,
that they could undo a big portion of this. We
could be hung out to dry as taxpayers in a
lot of different ways. Moderate Republicans aren't really into the

(03:34):
idea of Medicaid cuts and the reduction of state and
local tax deductions, and that's not necessarily I don't think
going to be as big a problem for people of
Nebraska and Iowa as it is for places that are
dealing with higher tax rates.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Like Illinois and New York, among others.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
But I think politically this is why I think this
matters more than anything. This is going to show what
kind of loyalty a lot of these guys have. What's
the one thing that we've noticed about the Donald Trump
presidency to this point, it is that he is very,
very breakneck right now with the pace that he wants
to go out with everything he's trying to accomplish. Whether
that's and again this is an outsider looking in. I

(04:17):
haven't talked to the man. I have only talked to
people that are in Congress. But it is happening so fast,
and nobody wants to be the squeaky wheel that slows
things down Republicans in general, unless you're Murkowski or Collins
or Mitch McConnell in the Senate, who seemingly are kind
of trying to fight against Donald Trump's agenda. At least

(04:39):
so far, seemingly, we have most people on board with
a lot of what is happening as far as it
comes to Donald Trump's agenda, and if you're a Republican
you don't. It could potentially lead to I don't want
to say career suicide, because people can overcome disagreements with
the president of the same political party. But as powerful

(04:59):
that as Donald Trump is in the Republican Party right
now amongst his supporters around the country, you're asking for
trouble if you kind of get caught in the way
of things. Remember a couple years ago, a year and
a half ago, when Kevin McCarthy was removed the Speaker
of the House and they were trying to find the
next speaker. When Jim Jordan didn't get the support of
Don Bacon, one Don Bacon didn't give him a support

(05:20):
angered a lot of people. Our phones are ringing off
the hook and people saying I'm done with Don Bacon.
Now those things quieted down, and he was reelected a
year later, But that kind of tells you what people's
constituents would think of them if they were publicly one
of the people slowing down the progress of this administration. Now,
that's not to say that there shouldn't be things that
we can debate and try to fix and make things

(05:42):
as strong as possible across the board. So all of
the Republicans are on the same page. But even with that,
there's a certain level of self preservation that one has
to observe if you're in the Republican Party right now,
to make sure that you're not the guy that it's
getting publicized is trying to kill the big beautiful bill,
a bill that Donald Trump is saying flat out the

(06:04):
biggest and most important bill ever signed in Congress. Again,
this is a man who speaks in a lot of hyperbole.
So take that with a gigantic grain of salt. Get it, salt,
State and local tax salt?

Speaker 4 (06:15):
Get it?

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Hah, reduction of state and local tax deduction, salt deductions.
I said, grain of salt, Matt. Can you laugh please?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
No, I just it took me a second to put
it together. I realized it was an acronym, and then
I chuckled silently to myself, which is bad radio. But
I'll get you. Can I give you a laugh?

Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, go for it.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
Can you say it again?

Speaker 5 (06:36):
Salt?

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Maybe add some pepper to that.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
Thanks, Matt, appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Anyway, you have to understand that Donald Trump wants something done.
He is going to get it done one way or
the other. So bottom line is, I do think I
would wager that this is going to get passed by
the end of the week. They want to get it
done by the end of the week so they can
get into Memorial Day.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
We can not have to worry about it.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
I have talked earlier this morning with a person that
is actually reporting.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
On this stuff in Washington, DC.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
He said he was fifty to fifty on that actually happening.
I'm just a little bit more optimistic, I suppose, because
I know that Republicans do not want to get in
the way of Donald Trump and his pace, so I
think that they would make some more concessions. If things
aren't happening on a proper timeline. Time is going to
tell on this. It's two sixteen. Thanks for listening. If
you'd like to be a part of the conversation, Matt,

(07:28):
turn those phones on four roh two five five eight
eleven ten. Four oh two five five eight eleven ten.
If you have thoughts on the big beautiful Bill, Donald
Trump's agenda, the speed of the agenda, the Republicans who
are trying to debate this into oblivion before they actually
pass it. I would love to hear from you, So
give us a call at four h two five five
eight to eleven ten. We'll talk to you on news

(07:49):
radio eleven ten. Kfab Andre's on her phone line is
open at four oh two five five eight eleven ten.
Four oh two five five eight eleven ten. Well, welcome
to the show here, Sherry, who wants to talk about something? Sherry,
what's on your mind today?

Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (08:03):
I was just down at the legislature today.

Speaker 8 (08:07):
They were debating our bills for medical marijuana, which the
people of this state overwhelmingly passed by seventy one percent
in all districts, and they voted to postpone it indefinitely.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
How does that make you feel?

Speaker 8 (08:27):
Means that they are going to.

Speaker 7 (08:30):
Pass it on to the liquor Commission, which there's no
money for the liquor Commission as of get and also
the Attorney General told the liquor commissions that if they
begin to put something together for the medical marijuana bill,
they will be in a lawsuit.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yiche.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Okay, I'm going to need to read up on this.
I really appreciate the heads up, Sherry, but thank you
so much for.

Speaker 4 (08:57):
Calling in today.

Speaker 7 (09:00):
Okay, I didn't know if you want to talk about
it in your.

Speaker 5 (09:02):
Conversation this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, that's that's a it's a really important Uh. And Sherry,
I think did you just send me a message earlier today?

Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah? This is you that you send me a message?

Speaker 7 (09:15):
Yes, I did on your Facebook because I nobody's kicking the.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Phones and I'm yeah, yeah, sorry, sometimes we have the
phones off. And for anybody out there, if you're not
hearing to come through, just send me an email or
a message like Sherry did just to like get my
attention because sometimes we have the phones off so Matt
can worry about some other things that happen to answer
the phones for four hours. But I appreciate the note, Sherry.
Let me get into a break and pull some stuff
up and then I can chat about this a bit.

Speaker 6 (09:39):
Okay, Okay, great, thank you.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yep, yep, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, I'm just not well equipped on a timeline to
uh to talk about this uh immediately, but I would
would like to, and I'm sure there are a lot
of people out there that have their.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
A pain on. So that is what it is.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
I suppose medicinal marijuana will do the best that we
can to get you updated on that. Matt, can I
ask you a question? Are you are you available?

Speaker 3 (10:15):
In one sense? Yes? I am free to talk on
the microphone.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
I So, so the unit camera is they they kicked
the can down the road? Essentially? Is what this is?
Medicinal marijuana? Rank it like? Like is it a top
five issue for people of Omaha, Nebraska or because it's
not legal, it's lower on the totem pole.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
I would say, if you're taking the totality. If you
if you pulled every single person in Omaha in the
metro area, it would not make the top five. But
there are plenty of people in this city and everywhere
that it would be in their top five for different reasons.
I can tell you firsthand experience. I used to have
a neighbor a department complex that I lived at a

(10:56):
few years ago. He took advantage of medicinal marijuana and
he had very debilitating what is it called when epilepsy?

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Thank you?

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, he he struggled with that his whole life. He
said that ever since he started, it had been a
few years since he'd even had an epileptic seizure, and
before that he was having them, you know, just throughout
the year a lot. And so they'll get triggered by
random stuff.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
So for anyone out there who thinks, who has a
very one way opinion and wonders why in the world
with someone evert they think that this is pure and simple,
a way to sneak in something that's illegal into our society,
I would just posit that as just grist for the mill.
That's all that is. It's grist for the mill. Its
first hand experience I had a neighbor who experienced this

(11:44):
and it absolutely radically changed his life. He was able to, uh,
he wasn't able to work full time, but he was
able to you know, help help his income out in
different ways because he wasn't worried about when the next
seizure was going to happen right around the corner. So
you know, it absolutely does have medicinal benefits for anyone
who doesn't believe. So I just wanted to give that

(12:05):
first hand experience. So for him, if you were asking him,
this would be a top five issue, maybe even top three,
maybe even number one, you know, I mean, yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
I mean his life, I mean his ability to live
life comfortably is like he needs it, right, So I
mean I totally get that. I understand that. Do you
know how he took it? Like, was it like in
a pill or.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
He probably the same way Cheech and Chong does.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Okay, all right, Well I'm just double checking because people
don't understand these things, right, because there are different ways
that you can take these things. You can eat it
in an edible, right, They're like those gummies, right, Like
the gummies are real popular with the people in these
states that it's legal in right, right, But it's that
conversation with somebody who desperately needs it for their life.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
I mean, it has to change how people think about this.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
You would think, I mean, and it's all easy to
say that it's not a big deal to somebody when
you don't have anybody that could benefit from this. But
people don't see marijuana that way. They see it as
they see it as a drug. They were told in
the eighties that it was bad and haven't been able
to recover from that.

Speaker 4 (13:10):
Right. All they know is that it smells bad.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
It's something that degenerates do, and we don't want it
in our society. It's ruining Colorado, it's ruining Missouri, it's
ruining all these states that have not just medicinal but recreational.
And I've made the argument here that you know you
want to talk about revenue. You can't tell me you're
a fiscal conservative and you're going out of your way
to oppose this stuff.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
Matt, I got a map in front of me.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
This is a two ballot measure that was voted on
in November across all districts in the state of Nebraska. Now, again,
what is there Forty nine of those forty nine.

Speaker 4 (13:45):
Districts or so.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
Yeah, So this was through the new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission,
the measure to legalize up to five ounces for patients
with a written healthcare practitioners recommendation. Okay, that makes sense.
You're following what the language was on the ballot here?
It passed with guess how many percent? Obviously I've told

(14:07):
you it passed, But.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
Did she did Sherry say?

Speaker 4 (14:09):
She said no, no, no, this passed, so they would vote
on it.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
This is a different This was like what do the
people in the legislative districts of this state? What do
they think about this? But then they still have to
put it into like they have to write the bill
and they have to put it into law in the unicarameral.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
That's a completely different process.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
But what what how many what do you think here
the state of Nebraska, forty nine legislative districts, what percentage
across the state in total said that they were in
favor of medicinal marijuana. Oh, I'll say two thirds sixty
pretty close, seventy one oh seventy one. The closest race
was in Legislative District forty three, which is represented by

(14:51):
state Senator Tanya Storr of Whitman. This is a gigantic
district that has ranges from it's most of northern Nebraska
goes down to Okenbo, right in the middle of the state.
But it's a gigantic geographical area, very rural, and it
passed with just fifty two point zero four percent, but
that was the lowest number. So every single legislative district

(15:11):
had a majority in favor of this, And for the
people who are not in favor of this, I would
challenge you just to put yourself in the shoes of
somebody who might be able to and they have evidence,
they have studies that this does indeed help people. So
I find it to be quite fascinating that the lawmakers
have had such a such trouble trying to figure out

(15:34):
how to get this done and now have postponed this
as they're trying to cram at the end of the session.
And I'm not an expert on exactly what happens next,
but as Sherry mentioned, this is something that occurred today,
and I'm looking for more information the best that I can,
and as I find some ill be able to get

(15:55):
it for you. And I do appreciate Sherry for calling
in if you have thoughts on this, if you have
thoughts on the medical marijuana and it coming to the
state of Nebraska, and if you have challenges toward the
numbers of the people who actually went to the polls
in November and voted overwhelmingly in the state of Nebraska
and supported this while our legislators still seemed to figure

(16:18):
it can't figure out exactly how to make it work,
feel free to call us. Four h two five five
eight eleven ten is the number. Four oh two five
five eight eleven ten. Thank you for calling. It is
news Radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 9 (16:29):
And Marie on News Radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
We talked about medicinal marijuana and how it seems we've
been notified by our friend Sherry who listens in and
said that a medical cannabis was voted to be postponed indefinitely.
So I didn't plan on talking about this, but I'll
talk about it now, and I think this is one

(16:55):
thing that people I mentioned seventy one percent of people
in the state of Nebraska who voted on this measure
in November, which wasn't to put an act it but
basically was green lighting the unicameral to you know, figure
out legislation. This is what Kevin said, And Matt, let
me know if we're crossing the line, because you had
the first hand experience with somebody who you said their

(17:16):
life was much better, would.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
You say much much better?

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Uh, with the ability to utilize medical marijuana versus when
they did not have it at their disposal.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
Absolutely, according to him, it was. It was life changing.
It allowed him to not experience nearly as many seizures,
which allowed him to help make some make some income.
And and so I think in both of those ways
right there, exponentially better.

Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yeah, yeah, I get, you know, we forget.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
You know, some people that have some like epileptic issues,
they relocating to be in the workplace anywhere. Kevin says this,
I think most of us who voted against this do
not have a problem for people who have a real
medical need. The problem is every state that passed medical
marijuana has made it recreational. So and I don't have

(18:05):
all fifty states in front of me. I know, Iowa,
it's not recreational. But you do have the ability to
get a hold of some medical marijuana in certain dispensaries.
It's very strict but it will never happen recreationally while
cam Reynolds is the governor. She's made it very clear
because of you know, past issues that she says she's
had with substance abuse, mostly alcohol, she's not going to

(18:30):
further legalize anything that people could become dependent on.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
Substance wise.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
That's a very different thing politically, And I'm sure if
you're truly a fiscal conservative who wants to see the
influx of legitimate, legalized money into our society, that's not
something you would have been concerned with. But you have
to take into account the feelings of you know, individual people.
My question would be for you the listener, as you're

(18:54):
thinking about this, and it's not happening right now, like
I said, and this could open up some major legal
concerns that the I wonder if what Kevin says is
true that many people don't have a problem with recre
like like a medical marijuana, because they know that it
could help people. Like Matt's anecdote, there are people that

(19:17):
are probably close to us that could utilize what is
involved in it and how it could potentially help people
with epilepsy or a variety of different a variety of
different conditions. We've had this conversation before, and I will
reiterate my opinion on this. If your fear is that
recreational marijuana will be coming and following this one way,

(19:41):
shape or form or another, I suppose we have to
ask ourselves how much we're willing to let that affect
our ability to help people who are like us. I
guess that's a really convoluted and complicated way to say
we are not willing to help people like Matt's friend
because we're afraid that it's going to have dispensaries on

(20:01):
every street corner around Omaha and Lincoln and Grand Island
and everywhere around the state where people can go in
and buy recreational marijuana and use it just for fun.
I've not lived in a state that had legalized recreational marijuana.
I am not interested in recreational marijuana. I've never been
interested on in recreation at all. Like, this is not

(20:26):
something that interests me. However, I see the dollars that
are brought in from other states. I see how people
are changing their viewpoints based on the fact that, Okay, well,
when it is available, I don't notice it as much
as I thought I might. It could lead to more
revenue for the state in ways that could give us
property tax relief, it could allow us to use that

(20:48):
money to put into greater infrastructure. And it removes in
a way, and people are going out of their way to,
you know, tell me in the past that this you know,
I have this wrong, and maybe I do. I'm not
an expert on this, like I said, I've not lived
in these places. But it removes a large chunk of
the chance of the black market getting involved. And I've

(21:11):
heard from people that say, hey, my sixteen year old
kid tried marijuana and it made them incredibly sick, and
I'm against it one hundred percent. You probably had synthetic
stuff that wasn't actually real, and it's hard to regulate
anything when it's not legalized. You're just getting stuff that
you think is the good stuff on the black market,
on the street corners, or from somebody that's doing an

(21:32):
underground right. We have a lot of causes and effects
to this, but alas people just are kind of set
in what they think and it kind of freaks them
out that this could become available, even if it was
something that otherwise generally would be only utilized at least.

Speaker 4 (21:49):
For now for medicinal purposes.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Certainly there's going to be advocates for recreational, but that
isn't what this particular conversation was going to be about.
It's just weird that that fear of it becoming recreational
is why the twenty nine percent of the state voted
against it.

Speaker 4 (22:04):
For some reason.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Phone lines are open four, two, five, five, eight to
eleven ten. Jesse is on the line. Jesse, welcome to
the show. What's on your mind?

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Hi?

Speaker 6 (22:11):
Thank you. I'm from Norfolk. I've been involved with the
New campaign for since the beginning, for twelve years doing
this and it's really hard to sit back and watch
something that you worked for with these families get torn apart,
like we're trying to do something wrong.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, so, Jesse, I'm going to stop you there. Do
your best elevator pitch style sixty seconds. What are you
advocating for? Like, like really like for the people pretend
like the people listening to the show are very confused
as to what exactly the advocation of medical marijuana in
this state and what it could achieve for the people
of Nebraska.

Speaker 6 (22:51):
So what it is is we voted for this and
it's our right to have it now because we voted
for it. You know, it's not between the legislature to
decide who deserves this or not. It's up to a
person and their doctor to decide who needs this. You know, people,

(23:12):
if you don't want to do it, don't do it.
But who are they to make those choices for someone
else who needs it?

Speaker 4 (23:20):
Do you, Jesse, are real quick before I let you go.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
I know you've been working on the campaign, and I
don't know how much you know about what today's decision
to postpone this indefinitely means. But there there is the
potential for you know, legal battles and things of that nature.
What do you think has prevented the state senators in
the Unit camera from getting something done?

Speaker 4 (23:42):
Here?

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Win seventy one percent and every one of the forty
nine districts voted a majority in favor of medical marijuana
being available.

Speaker 4 (23:51):
In this state.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
I think it is fear of repercussions from our current governor,
our current attorney general, and our easiest governor and him
being in their pockets and not listening to the will
of the people who have put them in office, and
not the people that they're supposed to be in checks and.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Balances with well, certainly, I'm sure that Pillon Ricketts and
anyone else who might have kind of a varying degree
of angst towards something like this. It'd be interesting to
see how the voters react to them as well. I
appreciate the call, Jesse, thanks for listening to our show.
Thank you very much, Mitchell in Beth, and anyone else

(24:31):
who's trying to call us. I'd love to talk about
this more because this is a more complex issue that
I think we give it credit. For medical marijuana. It
was on the ballot in November and seventy one percent
of people in Nebraska said they were okay with medical
marijuana being available in the state of Nebraska. All forty
nine districts a majority voted in favor. Why is the
unicameral not operating like this? Why is it being postponed indefinitely?

(24:55):
Jesse blames leadership and former leadership of this state.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
How do you feel?

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Call us at four oh two, five five eight to
eleven ten four h two five five eight eleven ten
More of your thoughts on news Radio eleven ten. Kfab
Emri sung medical marijuana postponed indefinitely at the unicameral.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
You know, there's a lot going on.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
They just didn't want to tackle it, despite an overwhelming
majority of people in Nebraska saying they would support legal
medical marijuana in this state. We're getting your thoughts today.
Let's start with Mitchell. Mitchell, thank you for being on
the show today. What do you think about this?

Speaker 2 (25:28):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 10 (25:31):
I have a couple of things.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
I wouldn't really surprised it past, given we.

Speaker 10 (25:35):
Have in Nebraska the largest population of recreational wheat smokers here.
But I don't think people really understand how complex marijuana
really is. It's been quite some time since I've done
the research, so I'm sure people are going to try
to correct me on this. But the actual chemical compounds
they make medicine with are the CBB and the teas,

(26:00):
which is what most people know to get you high,
doesn't have very medical medicine benefits. So I think a
good solution is to find the chemicals that work within
the plants and the medicines that are already existing and
other states who have done it and use it for
seizures and things like medical conditions that need certain chemical

(26:23):
compounds and medicines that are already made on the market,
legalize those and not just marijuana for medical purposes altogether,
because then that's where you kind of get into the
riff raft and then the weeds start coming in where
people are just trying to get any medical condition.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
Signed off right, and that that absolutely is happening in
every state with medical marijuana. There are people trying to
abuse that. There's no doubt, Mitchell. You bring up a
good point though about the it does get a little
cloudy for people because they're seeing it just as well,
marijuana is becoming available to people if they have a
doctor note, and that it becomes a bit more complex

(27:04):
for people who just don't understand why that that would
be a good thing for their society. I appreciate the call, Mitchell.
I want to get to Beth here. Beth, welcome to Elevinton, Kfab.
What are your thoughts.

Speaker 11 (27:14):
Well, I don't know. I just I don't know that
much about it for that purposes for the but I
just feel like it's just so it just shows you
how they can't they can't do anything. They don't really
talk about it. They just You've got seventy one percent
of the population and you have an administrative state that's

(27:35):
just saying no, But why are you saying no? And
then also the federal government at some point, you know
they wanted I think Ricketts wanted I don't know if
he wanted to go through the FDA and he was
talking about that. That was a long time ago. But
the issue really should be taken up and studied, and
I mean really studied, and because we it's just hard

(27:56):
that we have the same problems over and over and
over that go through and it's just like we don't
really evolve any farther. And when you think about just
life in general, and they talk about the Iowa get
rentals and know she's had addiction problem whatever, you know,
that's just that's the conversation we need to have, is

(28:16):
the addiction because everybody's addicted to something. Are You might
be addicted to food, you could addicted to alcohol, you
can be to gambling. There's so many things in life
that you know, and there's no the people that are
in the administrative state, whether a Republican Democrat and making
the rules, they think that you know, they don't have

(28:37):
any problems or they don't have any addictions. I mean,
what are they eating, what are they drinking?

Speaker 4 (28:43):
Right?

Speaker 12 (28:43):
What there?

Speaker 10 (28:44):
Well?

Speaker 1 (28:45):
And Beth, I'm running out of time here. I really
do appreciate the call. But that's that's a good point too.
It's I think more political than it is personal for
the people that are in the un camera at this point,
it is trying to be in the good graces of
the people they feel like they need to be in
the good graces of. Now, that doesn't mean that this
conversation is ending at all, because we're going to continue
to have it because it's obviously one that people want

(29:07):
to have. John Connor, Amy, everyone else calling in right now,
I would love for you to hold on. I am
scheduled to do an interview here. I will see if
we can find a way to get this conversation and
keep it moving. But this is very, very intriguing and interesting,
and I do appreciate everyone for calling in if you
want to be a part of the conversation. Four h
two five to five, eight eleven ten more coming up

(29:27):
on news radio eleven ten. Kfab Brian here has sent
that LB six seventy seven, which is the debate that's happening,
and he wanted to make sure that we knew that
it is still being debated on the floor, and anybody
who said that this body had been adjourned without them
actually discussing this was false. And so we'll let you
know if there's anything bigger that's happening and what they're

(29:49):
doing beyond the discussion of this bill currently here for Nebraska. Now,
our conversation isn't necessarily about why that hasn't happened yet.
Maybe it will happen here in hour or two or
a day or two, but we'll let you know, and
it will be pretty big news. But I want people's
personal thoughts on this stuff, because I think this is
a conversation that every once in a while when we

(30:11):
have it, I think we get really good discussion and
people have an idea of you know, we need to
talk about it like this, we need to talk about
it like that. So we're going to knock out some
phone calls throughout the half hour. At the bottom of
the hour, we're scheduled to talk about bike riding here
in this area and around the country, and we'll do that.
And it's not just like recreational bike writing, but bike

(30:32):
safety and what do you do when you're a vehicle
next to a bike. We'll talk about that and just
making sure everybody's safe. That's in thirty minutes. Right now,
we're talking about this medical marijuana subject, and we're going
to start with John. John, welcome into the show today.
What are you thinking about this?

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Hey, thanks for starting my call, Emory. Yeah, I'm a
bit confused here. You said we all voted for this
to happen, right, and now the legislature is saying it's
not going to happen.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Well, they didn't say it's not going to happen. It
is slow to happen.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
Don't talking about it.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
They're talking about it, and it's been a bit hairrier
than you would think when seventy one percent of the
state wants this to happen.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Well, now this reminds me of everything that happened in November.
The people all voted for things to happen, and these
are happening little by little, but a lot of people
are trying to stop it from happening. Yeah, which only
seems the same way, doesn't it that? I don't think
we're such a red state, buddy. I live in Lincoln
and it's a sanctuary city and has been since day one. Yeah,

(31:32):
we need to change all this.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
Yeah, well, John, all of it needs.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
To be changed, buddy. There's nothing wrong with legalized CBD
to help people. There's nothing wrong with recreational marijuana because
anybody that's against that is usually stopping it to a
quick shot on the way home to pick up some alcohol,
or they're going to their nearest bar or their bowling
alley or their restaurant. So I don't think that's a

(31:58):
good excuse at all. And one more question, are you
is your radio station or are you personally advertising for a
trip to go drink somewhere? I was, yeah, okay, you
need to think about what you're doing.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Thanks for the call and five thanks.

Speaker 4 (32:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
I mean if I was opposed to medical or recreational marijuana,
then yeah, I mean that seems a bit, you know,
opposed to the idea. Now, I think you can have
any substance in moderation if it's legal, and have the
opportunity to enjoy. That's part of our God given American rights,
you would think. But outlawing of things insteadive regulation of

(32:39):
things seems to be a bit the opposite. We tried
that with aultcohol back in the nineteen twenties. Go back
and read about how that worked out. It basically led
to organized crime, and the government was letting that happen
because they didn't want anybody to drink alcohol. Now this
wasn't something that was overtly legal. Then we tried to
make it illegal, and then everybody was trying the clamoring

(33:01):
to go get it. It's not quite the same thing,
but it's pretty close if you think about the principles
of the matter. But I'm comfortable with who I am.
I have no problem having drinks. I have no problem
advertising for a trip that you know, we go drinking
on like that's something that you do. You go places,
you have a beer, you go places, you have a cocktail,
you have a glass of wine.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
That's fine. Nobody's here judging anybody.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
As long as you're safe, you're not driving or taking
care of yourself, you're not having too much. And I
don't know why anybody who feels that way wants to
stay in the way of this marijuana stuff, but alas
people see it as a completely different thing. Connor's on
our phone line for two, five, five eight to eleven ten. Connor,
Welcome to eleven ten.

Speaker 13 (33:39):
Kfab Oh my, thanks for taking my call. You know,
I think this boils down to two people, and it's
rickettson Tillon, and they've been against medical marijuana from the
get go, and they control a lot of the senators
in the legislature by campaigning, by donating to their campaigns
because those two have a lot of money and they

(33:59):
think the dictators and they know better than the people
of Nebraska. No, so as long as we keep putting
Pillin and Ricketts in power in this state and continue
to put in the senators that are voting with them,
there's going to be more of this to come. Because
these two guys are completely ruining this state and nobody

(34:21):
has guts enough to believe it or say it but
these and it's one hundred percent factual, and they keep
winning because they've got all the money.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Yeah, and Connor, I want to be careful about how
we talk about this because you mentioned the last part.
They do keep winning, people are still electing them. At
some point if the voters did not want that type
of leadership because of things like this, then the people
have to understand that money isn't buying elections.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
Now.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
I understand what you're saying as well, but because of
their status, there aren't going to be Republicans to try
to run against.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
Them in primaries.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Exactly, And that's just politics in general. And when there
aren't Republicans who want to run against them and they're
the incumbent, are you going to vote for them?

Speaker 4 (35:10):
Are you going to vote for a Democrat?

Speaker 13 (35:13):
Well, and Nils down the only and the only positive
we've had is Ricketson Pillen. We're supporting Stothard and Ricketts
and Pillings through a temper tantrum when she won, which
is pretty sad when the governor of Nebraska won't congratulate
the new mayor of the state's largest city. But thankfully
this one did turn because those two guys supported Stothard

(35:35):
and luckily she lost. But more of that has to
happen because they are the reason the legislature is voting
the way they are.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
Yeah, I mean, Connor, I appreciate the perspective today. Thanks
for the call as all.

Speaker 13 (35:48):
Okay, thank you.

Speaker 4 (35:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
I hesitate to say two people are controlling everything. They
are two powerful people, and I have not had bad
interaction with either of them, but that's politics, right, Like
you do have some behind the scenes, you know, pressures
or things that slow people down to making their decisions.

Speaker 4 (36:07):
Here's here's the hard truth of it.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
If people have a general issue, and I don't think
they're ruining this state. They may be getting in the
way of what some people would consider to be progress.
They may be opposing what some people would consider to
be progress. But they're elected officials. It is not like
they appointed themselves into their positions. Now, Pillon did appoint
Pete Ricketts to take that Senate seat, but he just

(36:30):
had to win a special election this past fall. It
wasn't even close. Would you rather vote for Rickets or
you would you rather vote for a Democrat? If you
want somebody else to challenge Rickets, then the people have
to say something.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
And that's just not happening.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
And if are elected officials out of all of the
you know, Senate seats that are representing all of us
in the unicameral, don't see that every single one of
these districts, all forty nine of them, said that they
wanted this at least fifty two percent of every single
one of them, seventy one percent as a whole voted
in favor of medical marijuana. Then this should not have

(37:01):
even been a problem here it's what the people want.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
Now.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
I'm not saying that it's not gonna happen, because as
Brian mentioned, they're still talking about this, But this is
one of those things that I think we just need
to take a deep breath, take a step back, look
at the facts of the matter here, and understand that
at some point these people are free thinkers too. They
were elected to be representative of the constituents that elected
them to their position. And if they're that upset or

(37:27):
if they're that afraid of angering somebody like Pete Ricketts
who is in Washington, d C. Representing Nebraska, or upsetting
the governor. And Jim Pillen, who by the way, doesn't
have a unicameral vote right now, he's the governor. If
he wanted to go against the will of the people here,
that's going to look bad on him. Somebody's got to
stand up and do the will of the people. That's

(37:47):
all I'm saying here. Doug Bill, Jim Robb. We'll get
to every call that we possibly can hear in the
next segment when we come back on News Radio eleven
ten kfab.

Speaker 6 (37:56):
Henry Songer on News Radio eleven to ten.

Speaker 4 (37:58):
Kfab, Doug we'll start us off here.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Doug, really appreciate you being a part of the conversation
about medical marijuana.

Speaker 4 (38:06):
What are you thinking about today?

Speaker 12 (38:07):
Okay, here's my thought. I don't mind medical marijuana, but.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
I did vote against it.

Speaker 12 (38:12):
And this is a reason why if you could tell
me we would never do it for recreational use, I
would be one for it.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
But here's the problem.

Speaker 12 (38:22):
Every place that you have done medical marijuana, what has happened?
Got recreational use, then they make it look like candy,
do everything else, and then what's happened? Children get ahold
of it, Things go wrong, and they're not they yet
because the government of those states are making so much
money they will not stop. And yet children are being

(38:46):
taken advantage of whether you want to look at it
or not, but they are because this stuff is looking
like candy.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, no, Doug, Doug, I don't disagree with the principle
of what you're talking about. At some point the people
who have the marijuana though that looks like candy and
they're kids are getting a hold of it.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
When are they on the hook for that? Like, at
what point is it their fault? Like?

Speaker 1 (39:05):
At what point do we get mad at them for
being irresponsible. How many five year olds are getting into
a liquor cabinet and having a taste of vodka? Right,
I mean it's probably not that many, but there's still
probably some, right because people are being irresponsible with liquor
that's happened before. I'm just not saying that you're wrong.
I'm just saying that at what point is it the people,

(39:27):
the guardians of these children that we need to be like, Hey,
that's on you, and that's not a government responsibility issue.
And I would just push back on the whole every
single state thing Iowa has not. Iowa is still in
very like primitive kind of medical marijuana zone in a
lot of how.

Speaker 12 (39:47):
How many years like that in Iowa? How many years?

Speaker 4 (39:51):
Oh, it's probably been like five to eight somewhere in there.

Speaker 12 (39:55):
I don't have the look at Oregon, Okay, I'm from Oregon.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
I've seen people.

Speaker 12 (40:00):
Yeah, I've seen all this, and I have relatives that
it help. Okay, Yeah, and I wouldn't do that. And
when you said seventy one percent of the people in
Nebraska voted for it, No, seventy one percent of the
people that voted.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Voted for it.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Okay, But but that still counts, Doug. If seventy one,
I know, like they voted for the president, it still counts.
It's still the mandate, right, I mean, it's the same thing.

Speaker 12 (40:24):
But but if you if we could get one hundred
percent of the people to vote, I would be I
don't care, but I'd love to see you a hundred
percent of the people vote.

Speaker 4 (40:32):
And I would like to Doug.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
I just I understand what you're saying, Doug, and I can't.
I'm not going to be able to change your mind
on this.

Speaker 4 (40:39):
I know that.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
All I'm saying is it's just I think that we
were splitting hairs on responsibility.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
That's all. That's all.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
But you're totally You're You're totally welcome to that opinion.
I'm glad that you shared it with us. I appreciate
the call today. Uh, let's go to Bill on the
phone line four two, five, five, eight eleven ten. Bill,
welcome in. What's on your mind?

Speaker 14 (40:57):
Well, I am a member in good standing of the
Fraternal Order of Herbsmen, and I wasn't really a big
fan of the medical push just for this reason because
in the way to Braska works just going to turn
into a quagmire. If it would actually do you some good,
maybe your grandkids are going to benefit from it. Personally,

(41:17):
I think they ought to forget that and just go
straight to legalizing it.

Speaker 12 (41:22):
Is.

Speaker 14 (41:22):
The harsh reality of the deal is that any you know,
they're saying, well, you're going to have get medical marijuana.
Every sixth grader's gonna be smoking a joint on the corner,
you know.

Speaker 4 (41:30):
Yeah, that's just anybody though.

Speaker 14 (41:32):
Yeah, like just anybody in anybody in Nebraska that wants
to smoke pot is smoking pot.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
Now, that's accurate.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
And again, with regulation, First of all, the state would
make money. I'm not saying that more people wouldn't be
interested because they would be access to it. But like
you said, the people who really want it are already
getting it. It's just not regulated and the government's not
benefiting from it. And I don't want to make things
more expensive for you, Bill, but I'm thinking selfishly, I'm
half of the state of Nebraska.

Speaker 4 (42:01):
What are we waiting for here?

Speaker 1 (42:02):
I mean, that's how I see things, and this isn't.
I'm not saying that it's one hundred percent full proof.
And yeah, you can point to the fact that more
people are you know, trying marijuana or they're getting addicted
to marijuana or whatever you want to say.

Speaker 4 (42:16):
But the people who really want it are going to
get it.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
And would you rather be safe and regulated or would
you rather it just be on the black market like
it is now because you're not really want it so and.

Speaker 14 (42:26):
There will there won't be all kinds of boards and
all kinds of systems put in place. It's just a matter. Well,
you're no longer a criminal or exactly, you know, since
you smoked the joint two weeks ago. You don't lose
your job, right but anyway.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
And there are going to be some jobs that say
you can't have it in your system at all while
you're working here, And you know what, that's that's somebody's
risk that they have to take because the same thing
with alcohol. The difference between the two is that alcohol
is out of your bloodstream a lot faster. So, uh,
it's something to keep in mind.

Speaker 4 (42:52):
Bill.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
I really appreciate your perspective on it. Thanks for calling in.
Rob's on the line, Rob, welcome into the eleven ten kfab.
What's what are your thoughts lost?

Speaker 4 (43:00):
Rob?

Speaker 3 (43:00):
But actually the only person we have a lot on
the line, right now is a new caller and he
goes by the name Chi.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
Okay, well, Chi, welcome in. What's up?

Speaker 15 (43:10):
Hey, a's are going? I was just calling about the
medicinal marijuana thing, and I don't have a problem with
medicinal or recreational, but I'm in my upper thirties and
I got a Westow kid went to Milldwest.

Speaker 9 (43:24):
I have a lot of friends that went there, and
we all have smoked weeds since.

Speaker 15 (43:29):
Since our senior year.

Speaker 9 (43:30):
But I mean, it's one of those things we've been
used to it being illegal, and I never even thought
Nebraska would make it legal. I had been going to
forty two degrees for a while to get my things,
but they started to confiscate that stuff. And the only
thing is, we're just going back to what it was before.
So in Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, it's all legal.

Speaker 5 (43:50):
So we're just going to do.

Speaker 9 (43:51):
The same thing and just grab the stuff from out
of place and bring it over the state line. So
it's like we're giving money to the other states and
we're not getting that for ourselves, and it's making even
more hard than just being able to have it egal
and easy to access for everybody and be regulating.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
Hey, h g be careful, you might make too much sense.
It may scare some people. I just you know, throwing
that out there. Don't be scaring the people with your
sense making. But I do appreciate the call today. Man,
I've really thank you for calling in. Yeah, I mean
he said it. If you want it, you're gonna go
where you can get it and you'll bring it back.
In Nebraska, what are they gonna do. They're gonna raid

(44:29):
homes looking for marijuana gummies. Let's be real here, Mary's
on the line. We'll try to squeeze two calls in.
I got two time for two more calls on this subject. Mary,
welcome in. What's on your mind?

Speaker 16 (44:39):
Hi, thanks so much for taking my call. So you know,
when you're looking at it in the state in Nebraska,
it's going to have to be so highly regulated because
it's not federally you know, it's still considered a naughty drug,
especially right so the providers, although in Iowa it has
been medicinally legalized, because it's not federally legalized, any provider

(45:04):
in Iowa has to be super mindful because if you
prescribe a drug that's on that list of naughty drugs,
then you could lose whatever governmental funding you're entitled to, right,
So they have to be super mindful and super careful.
I have a sister who has multiple sclerosis, and you
know that's the only thing that helps her.

Speaker 10 (45:26):
But ye, so regulated because.

Speaker 16 (45:28):
It's not federally approved that the states are really having
to jump through hoops, which is unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah, and again the hoops if we get it figured
out right, other states have figured it out, so there.
To me, there's just still no excuse why Nebraska couldn't
also figure it out if they really wanted to. And oh,
by the way, seventy one percent of voters who voted
in the November election said that they were okay with
medical marijuana coming to Nebraska. So I don't know what
the legislators dragging their feet on other than just trying

(45:54):
to be high and mighty and acting like this is
some sort of gateway to a darker time Nebraska history.

Speaker 4 (46:01):
I couldn't disagree more.

Speaker 1 (46:02):
I appreciate the call, Mary, I want to squeeze in
one more call here, Tim, welcome in.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
You're our last one on this What do you think?

Speaker 5 (46:08):
Hi, thanks for taking my call. Yes, sir, I guess
the piece that I think all the callers are missing
is that there is no way if the state sponsors this,
that they're able to determine whether someone was driving high
or not. So there have been several kids here lately
that have been killed by someone driving high and the
state has no way to take a test because the

(46:32):
drug has such a residual in the blood that they
don't know if you smoked it yesterday or three weeks ago.

Speaker 4 (46:37):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
And I understand, I understand that it makes complete sense
to me, and I don't want to make it sound
like I'm dismissing that, but in the same way, Tim,
I'm going to come back to the original argument that this.
I understand the hoops that have to be jumped through,
but it does help people in terms of the medical

(46:59):
property of it, and I know that that can easily
be abused by people who are bad actors, and I
get that. But even if it gets us to recreational
marijuana down the line, which I would imagine is years away.
We're talking years from now. But if that ever were
to happen, there are models from other states of ways
that they've been able to do with the best that
they can and I understand that. Yeah, we want to

(47:20):
test to make sure somebody isn't high when they're driving
because we're not sure when they last had a joint
or when they last had a gummy and it stays
in their bloodstream for days weeks at a time, makes
it difficult to determine whether or not they were impaired
when they drove. I think that's a problem that if
other states have been willing to work through that to

(47:40):
make the revenue to allow people to benefit from the
health benefits that the CBD can help people with epilepsy
or any sort of these muscular issues and all that,
I think that Nebraska can get there to win. Seventy
one percent of the state says I'm willing to have
medical marijuana in my day, and somehow all of the

(48:02):
unicramel can't say, Okay, well, my constituents to want this,
so I'm going to vote for this. No, that's it's
not that easy. But if it does happen, we will
let you know. Thanks for the call, Tim, Thanks for
everybody for a good conversation here