2024 NE Senate race: on Drugs

Peter Ricketts: If you legalize marijuana, you're gonna kill your kids

Dan Osborn: Rated C+ by NORML: don't criminalize marijuana

NORML Politician Info: rated C+
• Candidate: Dan Osborn (I - NE): Candidate in race for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, November 5, 2024
• Position on Marijuana Legalization:
• "The cat's out of the bag on this one. The current regime only makes it easier for high schoolers to score. Ask anyone who's underage what's easier to get, beer or weed, and they'll tell you. Our current policy is government overreach at its finest. Let's stop putting people in prison for cannabis use. It is outrageous that the federal government has criminalized a plant that people rely on for pain relief and other serious medical needs. Criminal records can follow people around for the rest of their lives...non-violent offenders are no threat to society. No purpose is served by them wearing a scarlet letter." (Candidate Survey Response)
• Position on Medical Marijuana: "I have strongly supported [medical marijuana] in Nebraska."

Deb Fischer: Rated F by NORML: no medical marijuana

NORML Politician Info: rated F
• Candidate: Deb Fischer (R - NE): Holds office U.S. Senate; Candidate in race for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, November 5, 2024
• Summary: NO MEDICAL USE
• Biography: Senator Fischer is vehemently against the legalization of marijuana. She has been outspoken in her anti-marijuana position, going so far as to introduce a bill to instill further regulations on states with medical and/or recreational marijuana.
• Comments: "Marijuana is being transported across state lines and making its way out of states such as Colorado and into Nebraska's communities," Fischer said in a press release. "This drug remains an illegal substance on the federal level and in Nebraska, where our law enforcement officers are working hard to stop the crime and violence associated with its transport." (6/17/16)
• "I do not support legalization of marijuana," said U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer. (8/27/2015)

Peter Ricketts: Rated F by NORML: no medical marijuana

NORML Politician Info: rated F
• Candidate: Pete Ricketts (R - NE): Holds office U.S. Senate
• Summary: NO MEDICAL USE: Senator Pete Ricketts is adamantly against the legalization of marijuana and holds the belief that it is a very dangerous drug.
• Comments:
• "The only difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is word choice," the governor said in the new ad. "Doctors can't prescribe it and pharmacists can't provide it because it's not medicine." (12/7/21)
• "If you legalize marijuana, you're gonna kill your kids. That's what the data shows from around the country." (3/12/21)
• A position paper authored by the Governor, entitled "Understanding Marijuana's Dangers," states that cannabis is a gateway drug, and that its use can lead to suicide, and that legalizing access to medical cannabis is simply a tactic to impose broader adult-use legalization. (2019)

Dan Osborn: Stop putting people in prison for cannabis crimes