A bill that would legalize some forms of medical marijuana in Nebraska passed its first hurdle Tuesday after state senators voted to advance the proposal. The bill, which was first debated last week, gained support among skeptics after senators adopted an amendment that would prohibit marijuana smoking and exclude “chronic pain” from the list of qualifying medical conditions, according to local station KSNB.

Following months of wrangling, the Colorado Department of Agriculture has secured a permit from federal drug enforcement officials to import industrial hemp seed from foreign countries.

The seeds are essential to kick-start Colorado’s hemp industry, which state agriculture officials say has seen a bottleneck in research and cultivation due to a lack of viable seed stocks. 

Colorado’s hemp registration program has taken off since the implementation of Amendment 64, which also legalized recreational marijuana in the state. With the new federal permit, the first shipments of seed could be here in two weeks, mostly from Italian universities.

In December of last year, Nebraska and Oklahoma (the “NO States”) filed suit against Colorado in the United States Supreme Court, seeking to invalidate Colorado’s recreational cannabis laws. Last week, the Supreme Court invited the Obama Administration to weigh in with its position on the lawsuit.

A Bellevue senator who is passionate about the state legalizing marijuana -- for medical purposes only -- finally got his day to try to convince 48 other lawmakers to join his crusade. 

Sen. Tommy Garrett, who made the bill (LB643) his priority, opened debate Thursday this way: This is for the moms.

He told senators they had an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Nebraskans who could benefit from medical marijuana. 

The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in March 1999 said medical research has discovered beneficial uses for cannabis in treating or alleviating the pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with debilitating medical conditions.  

Oklahoma and Nebraska want to rollback Colorado’s legalization of pot, calling it a “cross-border nuisance.”

Here’s a round-up of Monday’s Supreme Court developments.

Justices ask White House to comment on marijuana case: The Supreme Court asked the Obama administration to weigh in on a lawsuit brought by two states seeking to rollback marijuana legalization in Colorado, reports WSJ’s Jess Bravin:

Oklahoma and Nebraska asked the Supreme Court to invalidate laws implementing a 2012 voter initiative approved by their neighbor state, which legalized recreational use of marijuana.

Fed up and ready to fight for pot a group known as the Marijuana Party of Nebraska gathered in downtown Omaha on Saturday.

This was just one of 500 rallies located all across the U.S.

It was all part of the Global Marijuana March.

Supporters made sure that their voices were heard, many saying they'll stop at nothing to see legalization in Nebraska.

"We want to be able to lift all the laws and regulations of marijuana and we want to be able to grow hemp and marijuana in our field we want to use green energy stop cutting down trees make paper and wood out of hemp. We want to let our medical patients have a choice about what kind of medications they use,” said rally organizer Mark Elwood.

Nebraska senators will debate whether to legalize medical marijuana under a bill proponents say is aimed at residents struggling with debilitating seizures.

A legislative committee voted 7-1 Monday to advance a measure to create cannabis centers where marijuana would be produced and dispensed. Patients and caregivers could register with the state to obtain the drug for treatment.

"If it gets legalized, I will be a very happy person," said Maria Vavra, who uses marijuana as treatment for MS. "I have MS and if I did not smoke marijuana daily, I would be using my walker again and I would probably be in a wheelchair today."

"I use it for the spasms in my leg," said Dennis Pyle. "It seems to work better than the pills that I take."

Worried that lawmakers may not act, advocates for medical marijuana could take their campaign to Nebraska voters next year, and a new state law could make their job easier.

Supporters said they've started gathering signatures to place the issue on the November 2016 ballot. Despite significant hurdles, activists from the Omaha chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said the new petitioning law will make a difference.

"It's still a mighty task, but this helps us tremendously," said Bryan Boganowski, the founder of Omaha NORML.

If you want to talk about marijuana, you need to speak the language. We've laid out some key phrases and questions that come up frequently in the marijuana debate.

Definitions:

Marijuana: The dried leaves and flowering tops of the pistillate (female) cannabis plant that yield THC.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): The principal active chemical in marijuana that supplies its narcotic and psychoactive effects.

Hemp: A cannabis plant containing very low amounts of THC, generally grown for its fiber.

Strains: Varieties of marijuana containing specific characteristics such as certain THC levels, physical effects, smells and colors.

We know the end is coming, but pot prohibition is going to have to be undone state by state. Here are the ones least likely to jump on the bandwagon.

Marijuana prohibition in the US is dying, but it isn't going to vanish in one fell swoop. Even if Congress were to repeal federal pot prohibition, state laws criminalizing the plant and its users would still be in effect—at least in some states.

And it's probably a pretty safe bet that Congress isn’t going to act until a good number of states, maybe more than half, have already legalized it. That process is already underway and is likely to gather real momentum by the time election day 2016 is over.