LINCOLN- Advocates for legalizing medical marijuana switched from urging Nebraskans to sign their petition to begging them as a July 7 deadline looms closer to submit signatures to qualify for the ballot in November.

“Do it for the suffering people in this state who are pleading with you,” said Crista Eggers of Omaha, as she held up a photograph of her 7-year-old son, Colton, who suffers from up to 100 epileptic seizures a day.

The petition drive has collected about 60,000 signatures for each of its two initiatives but needs another 50,000 signatures per petition by the July 7 deadline to ensure there are enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The 2022 petition drive was necessitated after a successful petition effort two years ago was tossed off the ballot. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the single petition violated the legal requirement that such petitions contain only a single subject. This year, the initiative is passing two petitions to address that issue.

Thirty-seven states have legalized cannabis for medical use by qualified individuals.

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