While many states around the nation and the District of Columbia have legalized the of recreational marijuana, Nebraska has not. The Marijuana Policy Project even explains that attempts to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in Nebraska have failed in the past two years.
What are the penalties associated with possession of marijuana in Nebraska? According to the Nebraska Legislature, that depends in part on how much pot a person is found to have. If the amount of pot involved is less than one ounce, the offense will be a minor infraction and result in a citation and not an arrest if it is the person's first offense. If this same quantity is involved for a second or third offense, it will be a Class IV or Class IIIA misdemeanor, respectively. The misdemeanor offenses may result in jail time in addition to fines whereas the infraction may have no associated incarceration time.
Possession of between one and 16 ounces of marijuana may be a Class III misdemeanor. The charges and penalties jump up substantially if the amount of pot exceeds 16 ounces as a person in this situation may be charged with a Class IV felony.
While Nebraska does not mandate jail time for people convicted of infractions for possessing minor quantities of pot, it does have a high rate of arrests and citations. In 2012 alone, more than 7,700 people faced these charges statewide. There are 20 other states nationwide which also forgo jail time for first-time offenses involving small amounts of marijuana.