Nebraska
A Nebraska bill would criminalize hemp-based THC. Opponents say it could make grandma a felon
LINCOLN, Neb. — Kind Life Dispensary has been offering cannabinoid gummies, tinctures, ointments, now even canned beverages for seven years as one of the first businesses in Nebraska to offer such products. Founder and co-owner Andrea Watkins said her venture has been wildly successful, and she now has three locations in Nebraska’s capital city that employ eight people and sell to hundreds of regulars who use the products to treat everything from aches and pains to anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.
But now, she’s worried her livelihood will crumble as a bill winding its way through the Nebraska Legislature would outlaw most of the products she sells.
The Nebraska bill would criminalize the sale and possession of an array of products containing hemp-based tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the same compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive properties. Any product containing more than a total weight of 0.3% THC or more than 10 milligrams total per package would be outlawed.
“If that bill becomes law? We would have to close,” Watkins said recently at her flagship store that looks like a cross between a pharmacy and a spa.
She suspects many of the more than 300 businesses across the state offering similar products since hemp was legalized under the 2018 federal farm bill could face the same fate. That farm bill created a legal loophole that allows manufacturers to synthesize THC from hemp plants and sell it in products where marijuana isn’t legal to sell.
As the bill is currently written, it would even ban topical products like THC-containing lotions and creams intended to dull joint and muscle pains, leading opponents to accuse the bill’s sponsors of making criminals of grandparents seeking a treatment for arthritis.
“What happens to all the grannies who have some kind of CBD with delta-8 in the back of their medicine cabinet?” Omaha Sen. Wendy DeBoer asked during recent debate on the Nebraska bill, adding that the bill would “make felons of all the grannies” using products with hemp-based THC for aching joints.
Andrea Watkins, co-owner of Kind Life Dispensary business, that sells an array of products containing hemp-based THC, poses for a photo in Lincoln, Neb., May 1, 2025. Credit: AP/Margery Beck
The Nebraska bill includes a grace period through the end of 2025 to allow people who have such products to dispose of them.
The debate over cannabinoid products
Republican lawmakers behind Nebraska’s bill say it’s needed to protect people — especially children — from dangerous products that use synthetic cannabinoids “masquerading as hemp” and are infused into food and drink with candy and fruit flavors. Several lawmakers relayed accounts of children and others suffering ill effects and even hospitalization after consuming products containing synthesized THC.
But those amount to scare tactics that mischaracterize the benefits of the products, said Dr. Andrea Holmes, an expert in organic chemistry with an emphasis in cannabis. Holmes is a co-owner of Kind Life Dispensaries and has traveled the country promoting regulated cannabis and cannabinoid products.
“What they leave out in these cases they talk about is that the person has also taken some other substance or has some underlying problem that leads to their condition,” Holmes said. “Our products aren’t dangerous.”
A selection of beverages containing hemp-based THC is on display at Kind Life Dispensary in Lincoln, Neb. on May 1, 2025. Credit: AP/Margery Beck
Opponents of the bill say it is part of a yearslong effort by state Republicans — including Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers — to criminalize hemp products and thwart growing efforts to legalize marijuana both in Nebraska and across the country. Dozens of states have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use. In November, voters in Nebraska overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana use.
“We need to look at that fact. Most people want these types of products,” Holmes said.
A proposal for regulation in place of a ban
So far, Nebraska lawmakers have rejected efforts by Omaha state Sen. John Cavanaugh, a Democrat, to supplant the ban bill with a measure that would require strict regulation of hemp-based consumables, as several other states have done. The Nebraska Hemp Industries Association supports Cavanaugh’s effort to regulate the industry.
Cavanaugh and supporters of his measure say banning hemp products at a time when the state is suffering dramatic revenue shortfalls would just hit state coffers harder.
Hemp-derived cannabinoid businesses employ more than 1,600 people in Nebraska and provide a tax revenue potential of nearly $8 million to the state, Cavanaugh said, citing figures from the 2023 U.S. National Cannabinoid Report.
Nebraska attorney general homes in on cannabinoid product sellers
Despite the decriminalization of hemp and voters’ approval of some marijuana use, Hilgers has been crisscrossing the state targeting businesses that sell hemp-based cannabinoid products. Many shops have received cease-and-desist letters. Some have been subject to raids by law enforcement. Hilgers insists he’s protecting the public from dangerous products and unscrupulous dealers trading in plain sight.
“With our new complaints, we are ramping up our efforts to clean up Nebraska,” Hilgers said in September, when he sued four businesses in Norfolk selling hemp-based consumables. “These stores are misleading Nebraskans. Not one of the products we tested were accurately labeled, and many contained controlled substances.”
Nebraska is far from alone in the push to restrict access to consumable hemp and other THC products. It joins a slew of other states where similar efforts to regulate, criminalize or ban such products, including Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Texas.
But Democratic-led states also have led efforts to restrict hemp-derived products. In California, where recreational marijuana use is legal and heavily regulated and taxed, regulators issued a ban last year on food and beverage products with hemp-derived THC, citing health concerns.
The Logan County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a moratorium on data centers, making Logan the 12th county in the state to temporarily halt any data center construction.
The 12-month development ban also bars wind and solar energy systems, as well as cryptocurrency mining facilities, County Clerk Jennifer Nicholson said.
“Data centers are popping up everywhere,” Nicholson said. “We are in the middle of redoing our comprehensive plan and zoning regulations, and we want to get those in place since we currently don’t have anything that addresses data centers.”
Eleven other counties already have moratoriums in place: Butler, Box Butte, Custer, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Harlan, Johnson, Kearney, Otoe and Seward.
Cass, Gage and Garfield county planning commissions have voted in favor of moratoriums, but they await final approval from their respective county boards.
Logan County Commissioner Jon Hill said the moratorium buys the county time to finish refining its regulations in order to protect the county’s resources. While Hill said several residents are in favor of data centers and the business they may bring to the region, others are concerned about water use and how a center might impact the county’s electric supply and rates. He said he has questions of his own.
“I do have questions about why they cover so much land,” Hill said, referring to hyperscale data centers. “Some of them I’ve read about are three or five thousand acres.”
One potential data center developer, Tenaska, sent a representative to a Gage County meeting on moratoriums. The representative warned that moratoriums can create the appearance of being closed for business. Hill said that would not apply in Logan County.
“There might be an appearance that way, but I can’t say why,” Hill said. “Because we’ve made it plain in our action that it would be just twelve months until we can get regulations fixed up for them.”
Lincoln County Commissioners, on the other hand, rejected a moratorium earlier this week. Despite a large crowd showing up in force to advocate for strict regulations around data centers, or, better yet, a moratorium, board members argued that their existing regulations that address data centers are enough. Judy Clark, development director for the county, said the county is still working on refining those regulations that touch on data centers. Since the vote, county election officials confirmed a recall drive has been initiated against three of the five county commissioners.
Other counties are also reworking their zoning regulations, even ones that do not have moratoriums that temporarily bar development. This comes after legislation passed by lawmakers this year setting up a timeline for county boards to follow when they receive special or conditional use permit applications, typically used by data center developers. While some bills, like LB1261, do come with protections for counties, such as requirements for any developer needing a great deal of power to finance upgrades to the grid, many counties are working to ensure that any developer that hopes to build in their region has to abide by local rules as well, tailored to suit the community.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A part-owner of Endless Journey Hospice is speaking out after the Nebraska Attorney General issued a 14-page petition of disciplinary action against her and another nurse at the company.
Melanie Costlow, who has been a part owner of Endless Journey Hospice since the company opened in 2016, said she is working to show the positives of the organization following allegations from the state.
Allegations and investigation
In April of last year, the state opened an investigation into Endless Journey Hospice following a self-reported incident. Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued the disciplinary petition against two nurses at the company.
Allegations against Costlow included failing to report misdemeanors on nurse renewal applications, transporting medications from a deceased patient, and allowing staff to sign medical reports as a physician.
The second nurse was accused of mishandling medications in an unlocked cabinet and signing patient records as a physician. That nurse has since been terminated.
Costlow’s response
Costlow said she was unaware the employee was keeping medications from a deceased patient, and that an automated computer system unknowingly marked employees as physicians in patient records.
“None of that happened knowingly. None of that was done with ill intent,” Costlow said.
She said the charting system issue was identified and steps were taken to correct it before the state investigated.
“I will tell you that we had a system. All hospices had a system that they chart and we changed our system,” Costlow said.
Regarding the failure to report prior misdemeanors, Costlow said she had an attorney at the time and was unaware she was required to report them to the state board of nursing.
“That was not done maliciously. That is not me trying to hide from the state board of nursing that I was caught driving without a driver’s license,” Costlow said.
Outcome
There is no longer an active investigation. Costlow will serve a 90-day suspension and pay a $10,000 fine. Endless Journey Hospice will remain open.
Costlow said her suspension had not yet begun but was expected to start in the coming days.
“I don’t want Endless Journey to suffer for something that we already been through, that we already handled, that we already took care of,” Costlow said.
Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.
ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – A Bent Mountain teenager will compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Lincoln, Neb., later this month after qualifying with the Virginia High School Rodeo Association.
Kellen Hamm, a dual-enrolled homeschooled Roanoke County senior, graduated this May with a 4.2 GPA. She will compete at the national finals July 18–25 in four events: breakaway roping, team roping, barrel racing and pole bending.
Seventh state title in pole bending
Hamm recently claimed her seventh consecutive Virginia state championship in pole bending, riding her horse Tucker. Winning seven straight state titles in the same event on the same horse is considered a rare accomplishment in high school rodeo competition.
College plans
Hamm has been accepted to Murray State University in Kentucky, where she plans to enroll this fall. She will pursue a degree in elementary education and compete on Murray State’s collegiate rodeo team.
To follow Hamm’s progress at the National High School Rodeo Finals, visit the event’s official website online.
Copyright 2026 WDBJ. All rights reserved.
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