Medical Marijuana

At the 2010 NDP State Convention I rose to propose a resolution that was quite simple, one sentence actually. I followed several other groups that had gone on, and on, and on, about their own concerns, replete with "be it resolved," and "therefore," dotted "i"s and crossed "t"s.

My resolution stated, "The Nebraska Democratic Party will promote and support the legalization of medical marijuana." That's it. After some debate, the resolution passed almost unanimously.

Four years passed. The NDP did NOT promote, nor support any such thing. Silence ensued.

At the 2014 NDP State Convention I rose to propose another Resolution that was quite simple, once again, one sentence. It stated, "The Chair and officers of the Nebraska Democratic Party shall promote and support the legalization of medical marijuana." You'd think I'd asked them to drink a bucket of spit. It wasn't the part about the marijuana that upset them, it was that I had the audacity to demand that the Chair and officers of the party assume the responsibility of enacting a resolution of our party.

After much discussion, my resolution was reduced to its 2010 verbiage, and it passed unanimously.

More time passed. The NDP did NOT promote, nor support any such thing. Silence ensued.

In 2015, a very conservative Republican state senator, Tommy Garrett, introduced LB643, a bill to legalize medical marijuana. Since I wanted to see how my party "promoted and supported" such a thing, I attended the Unicameral's Judiciary Committee hearings on the bill. I should have known no one from the NDP would be there to do such a thing. I was the closest thing we had to it, but I no longer had any ties to the NDP, I was just a concerned citizen. I put my name on the list to speak, but Sen. Garrett had a lot of people that he brought in to do so. I will admit, their heart-wrenching testimony was far better than anything I might have said. He even had the mother of Charlotte Figi, the child for whom the strain of Cannabis Oil, Charlotte's Web, was named, come to testify.

I have seen our Platform and our Resolutions treated in this same manner, time and time again. Many very good people invest a lot of their time and effort to hone these documents, present them to the SC or the SCC, vote on them and get them passed. Then nothing happens.

If I become your NDP State Chair, I guarantee such inaction will never occur again. It is time that the leadership of the Nebraska Democratic Party becomes responsible to its people!