[LB405 LB435 LB450 LB622] the Committee on Judiciary Met at 1:30 P.M. on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Room 1113 of the State Ca
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Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Judiciary Committee March 15, 2017 [LB405 LB435 LB450 LB622] The Committee on Judiciary met at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Room 1113 of the State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska, for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on LB622, LB405, LB450, and LB435. Senators present: Laura Ebke, Chairperson; Patty Pansing Brooks, Vice Chairperson; Roy Baker; Ernie Chambers; Steve Halloran; Matt Hansen; Bob Krist; and Adam Morfeld. Senators absent: None. SENATOR EBKE: Good afternoon. We're going to try to get the preliminaries out of the way. We have a few more senators who will be joining us soon I believe. Welcome to the Judiciary Committee. My name is Laura Ebke. I'm from Crete. I represent District 32 and I chair the committee. I'd like to introduce, or have them introduce themselves, other senators starting over here because that's where they are. SENATOR HALLORAN: Senator Steve Halloran representing District 33, Adams County, western and southern Hall County. SENATOR HANSEN: Matt Hansen, District 26, northeast Lincoln. SENATOR EBKE: Senator Patty Pansing Brooks will be along shortly if she's not here yet. Senator Baker will be along from District 30, Senator Morfeld from Lincoln. Senator Krist is here, is introducing a bill in Revenue right now but he'll be in, in a little while. And then Senator Chambers will be here as well. Assisting the committee today are Laurie Vollertsen, our committee clerk; Brent Smoyer, our committee counsel; and committee pages are Kaylee Hartman and Toni Caudillo. On the table over there you will find some yellow testifier sheets. If you are planning on testifying today please fill one out and hand it to the page when you come up to testify. This helps us to keep an accurate record of the hearing. And there is also a white sheet on the table if you do not wish to testify but would like to record your position on a bill. Could I see a show of hands of how many people are hoping to testify on LB622 in any capacity. Okay. So let me tell you how we're going to work this today. We're going to begin the bill testimony with the introducer's opening statement. Following the opening, we'll hear from proponents. Today we're doing things a little bit differently. Historically this bill has inspired a lot of interest from a lot of people, as it is today. Two years ago when we had the hearing on the earlier version of the bill it was scheduled for the last thing on the agenda because we knew it was going to be a big hearing and it made it late in the afternoon before we got to it. That proved to be a bit of a hardship to those who attended who had medical conditions that were exacerbated by the long day. So in talking to Senator Wishart and others, we decided that under the circumstances we would move this bill to the top of the list. However, moving it to the top of the list means that there are three bills following this hearing. So what we're going to do is we're 1 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Judiciary Committee March 15, 2017 going to have limited testimony to begin with. Let me get through all this. We're going to have...we're going to let Senator Wishart do her introduction of the bill and then we'll begin with proponents. Proponents will have an hour, three-minute testimony, then opponents will have an hour of three-minute testimony, and then neutral--typically there aren't too many neutral--we will go for up to 15 minutes. At that point we will allow Senator Wishart to close if she wishes. However, if there are still those who would like to testify verbally on the record, we will not close the hearing but we will suspend the hearing. We will move to the other hearings, the other three bills, and then at the conclusion of those three bills we will come back and take additional testimony, verbal testimony. But we're trying to, you know, kind of split the difference here. We want to give everybody the opportunity to talk. But we also...and we wanted to make the allowances for those who might have medical conditions or reasons for not wanting to be here for an extended portion of the day. But we also want to be respectful of those who might be testifying on the other three bills and give them an opportunity to hear their testimony and to hear the bills before it gets dark out. So that's the plan for the day, again, three-minute testimony. Just a reminder, I would ask that if you've got your cell phones, turn those to silent or vibrate mode at this point. We ask that you not talk on the phone while you're in the committee room. If you need to talk on the phone head out to the hallway. And then I'd ask...typically when we get big crowds like this it's not unusual for a lot of passion to be there and people want to start clapping. Please don't do that. That just delays our ability to get through the hearing in good order. The clock will start when Senator...when the first proponent comes up. So with that in mind, I think we've got all the preliminaries under the way. So, Senator Wishart. SENATOR WISHART: Well, good afternoon, Chairman Ebke...Chairwoman Ebke, excuse me, and members of the Judiciary Committee. My name is Anna Wishart, A-n-n-a W-i-s-h-a-r-t, and I represent the great 27th District in west Lincoln. I am here today to introduce LB622, a bill that would establish the Medical Cannabis Act and provide for the cultivation, processing, and use of medical cannabis in our state. I introduce this legislation for multiple reasons. First and foremost, this is an issue that came up at doors during the campaign from people themselves or family and friends are struggling with a chronic illness and want access to this form of medical treatment. Additionally, I have been paying close attention to a ballot initiative to legalize not just medical but all cannabis in our state. I believe it would be to our benefit as a state that we work intentionally on addressing this issue in the Legislature where we can take the time needed to put in place a comprehensive, safe, and sustainable medical cannabis system. This morning I would like to walk you through the white-copy amendment I have introduced, AM496, so that you are familiar with the medical system that I am bringing to you today. My office and I worked with experts across the country to draft AM496 to make sure our Medical Cannabis Act is financially sustainable, regulated to protect public safety, and affordable and accessible to Nebraskans who will be utilizing this form of treatment. Again, AM496 is a white-copy amendment to LB622 and creates the following system. The Division of Public Health of the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for regulating the Medical Cannabis Act. Section 17 in your 2 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Judiciary Committee March 15, 2017 amendment outlines the medical conditions that qualify under our system. I won't list all of them but they include cancer if the underlying condition or treatment produces severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting. Another ailment is glaucoma; Tourette's syndrome; severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis; Crohn's disease; lupus; Parkinson's disease; Lyme disease; opioid addiction; epilepsy; post-traumatic stress disorder; anxiety; or any other illness for which medical cannabis provides relief as determined by the participating healthcare practitioner. [LB622] SENATOR EBKE: Hang on just a second, Senator. Just for committee members, there is a...you found the copy of the amendment and the new summary is in your books. [LB622] SENATOR WISHART: Yes. [LB622] SENATOR EBKE: People were looking for them so I wanted to make sure they knew. Thank you. Sorry. [LB622] SENATOR WISHART: Oh, okay. Yes, because I will be referring to sections as I go through this so you have an understanding of the amendment. Section 7 outlines the delivery methods for medical cannabis under our system which are liquid, pill or capsule, vapor, topical creams, and suppositories. And I want to emphasize that smoking is not included in our Medical Cannabis Act, nor are edibles other than in the form of pills or capsules. The department shall establish and maintain a registry program for patients and their participating healthcare providers, which is outlined in Section 22 and 30. The registry will include the following: the name and address; telephone number of the patient enrolling in the registry; and shall identify their participating healthcare provider; a copy of certification for the patient's participating healthcare provider that certifies the patient has been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition and a description of the potential outcomes of using medical cannabis specific to the patient's medical condition. A patient and their participating healthcare provider will be required to recertify on an annual basis. The department shall register a designated caregiver if a person has been identified by a healthcare practitioner as having a developmental disability or physical disability and is unable to acquire or administer medication.