Cannabis Legalization in Nebraska: What Providers Need to Know.
In Nebraska, healthcare practitioners who can provide written recommendations for medical cannabis include:
- Physicians (MD)
- Osteopathic physicians (DO)
- Physician assistants
- Nurse practitioners who are licensed under Nebraska’s Uniform Credentialing Act, or are licensed in any state and practicing in compliance with that act.
Here are the key provisions related to provider recommendations:
- Professional Judgment: The healthcare practitioner must determine that, in their professional judgment, the potential benefits of cannabis outweigh the potential harms for the alleviation of a patient’s medical condition, its symptoms, or side effects of the condition’s treatment.
- Written Recommendation: The recommendation must be in writing, signed, and dated by the healthcare practitioner.
- No Specific Conditions: There is no specific list of qualifying medical conditions that can be treated with cannabis. The practitioner makes the determination based on their professional judgment.
- Validity Period: A written recommendation is valid for two years after its issuance unless the healthcare practitioner specifies a different period in the recommendation.
- Relationship Requirement: According to the summary of the Nebraska Medicinal Cannabis Act, which did not pass, providers must have a bona-fide relationship with the patient. This provision is not part of the law that was enacted through ballot initiatives.
These provisions allow a broad range of healthcare practitioners to recommend medical cannabis for patients, based on their professional assessment of the potential benefits and harms.
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