Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission Announces Cultivation Licensing Application Lottery and Updated Regulations

By Yolanda Clarke

Sep 11, 2025

Key Summary

Cultivation license applications for Nebraska’s medical cannabis program are open September 4–23, 2025.
Licenses will be awarded by lottery, but applicants must also meet scoring requirements and demonstrate site control, proof of residency, financial capacity, and business planning.
License caps and new compliance obligations have been set, with additional license application windows and regulatory updates expected at upcoming MCC meetings.

Nebraska Launches Medical Cannabis Licensing with Cultivation

The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission (“MCC”) has announced that the first application period for medical cannabis business licenses will open exclusively for cultivation facilities. This initial window will run from September 4, 2025 through September 23, 2025. During this time, interested applicants must submit all required materials, including ownership details, proof of residency, site control, financial documentation, and business plans. All applications received by the deadline will be entered into the lottery process for consideration.

The MCC has indicated that application windows for other license types, such as product manufacturing, dispensaries, and transporters, will be announced later. This staggered approach allows MCC to roll out the program in a manner that shores up the medical marijuana supply chain before moving on to other parts of the market.

Nebraska Caps Medical Marijuana Licenses

The MCC’s new emergency regulations place a series of limits on the number of licenses available by category. Nebraskan medical marijuana licenses are limited as follows:

Four cultivation licenses.
Four product manufacturing licenses.
One dispensary license per Judicial District, for 12 dispensary licenses.
One transporter license per Judicial District, for 12 transporter licenses.

If the Commission finds supply or access insufficient in any calendar year, it may open a new application period the following year to grant an additional license.

Nebraska’s Medical Marijuana Licensing Process

The MCC places all applications submitted by the deadline into the lottery. Applicants selected in the lottery will have their applications reviewed to ensure they are complete and meet the licensure eligibility scoring criteria. To be eligible for licensure, applicants must receive an average score of more than 70 points out of 100 on their application; the MCC has not yet released detailed scoring metrics.

The MCC does not review applications for completeness or scoring until after the lottery. Once the MCC issues all available licenses, the remaining applications will be denied. Selected applicants must accept their license award in writing within five business days.

Application Requirements

Applicants must complete the Application Form and provide all required information to apply. A Business Plan is also required, and this must include:

Proof of financial capability to build, launch, and sustain the dispensary, including access to capital, a detailed budget, and funding sources
Facility design and operational readiness, including compliance with all applicable state laws and regulations and a demonstration of readiness to commence operations
Demonstration of how the applicant satisfies the residency requirements
Any experience in operating a business in a regulated industry
Any experience in cannabis cultivation, cannabis manufacturing, or cannabis retail
Leadership team qualifications
Financial projections for the following year.

An applicant may not submit more than one application for the same license type during the same application time period or submit applications for more than one license type during the same application period.

There is no fee to apply, and license fees are yet to be released.

Ownership and Location Restrictions

Applicants for Nebraska’s medical cannabis licenses must be majority-owned by Nebraska residents who have lived in the state for at least four years immediately before applying. “Majority owned” means that an in-state resident must own more than 51% of either:

The financial interests (excluding security interests, liens, or encumbrances)
The voting interests of the applicant entity, including parent and subsidiary entities.

Location restrictions remain unchanged. Licensed premises must be at least 1,000 feet away from “covered locations,” including schools, licensed childcare facilities, churches, hospitals, and mental health or substance use treatment centers. In addition, the MCC confirmed that vertical integration remains prohibited, so a single company cannot control cultivation, manufacturing, transport, and retail.

New Nebraska Medical Cannabis Compliance Regulation Updates

In addition to details on applications and the licensing process, the new emergency regulations further develop the requirements for licensed operators, including:

Limiting cultivators to 1,250 flowering plants
Mandating a Commission-approved inventory tracking system, and once a state inventory tracking system is implemented, the state’s system
Requiring a reclamation bond of $200,000 within 30 calendar days of receiving a license
Requiring a performance bond of $100,000 within 30 calendar days of receiving a license
Notification requirements for certain events, including criminal activity, adverse events, changes in hours of operation, and similar matters
Mandating that dispensaries establish a system to receive written recommendations and written orders directly from health care practitioners for no less than seven years
Instituting a 60% potency for all cannabis products
Requiring Product Manufacturers to register products with the MCC
Required testing of cannabis inputs and products by testing facilities approved by the MCC.

Additionally, the MCC has established a “Recommending Health Care Practitioner Directory” for those qualified to write medical cannabis orders for qualified patients.

Stay Up-to-Date on Additional Developments

The MCC continues implementing Nebraska’s medical cannabis program and will consider additional license types and rule updates at its September 30 meeting. Businesses and investors should prepare applications now and monitor upcoming developments closely. If you are interested in participating in Nebraska’s new medical cannabis market, contact Vicente attorney Yolanda Clarke.