After raising a heated debate in the Nebraska legislature in its past two sessions, medical marijuana will again be a point of interest in the Capitol when Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln proposes a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state of Nebraska.

This bill will be similar to previous bills that have been introduced by Sen. Tommy Garrett in the past two years, but have not been passed. Garrett did not win his bid for reelection this past November.

Last year, the bill was killed after lawmakers voted to end a filibuster 30-49.

This year, however, there are 17 new senators and a public opinion that some senators think is largely in favor of passing a law to legalize medical marijuana.

After months of paperwork and navigating bureaucratic red tape, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have planted their first crop of legal hemp.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that about 150 plants with the distinctive frond leaf, previously relegated to roadside ditches, are nestled in warm and slightly humid greenhouses on UNL’s East Campus.

Industrial hemp has almost none of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), found in its cousin marijuana, but the family relationship has gotten both plants lumped together as Schedule I drugs along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

“You can get higher smoking a corn plant than you can on this stuff,” said Tom Clemente, a professor of biotechnology and one of two UNL researchers growing the plants.

You'll get to vote on whether to make marijuana legal in Nebraska two years from now, that's if one group has its way.

It has now opened an office in Omaha that it will use to try to convince you, but at least one state lawmaker says that's going to be an uphill battle.

Krystal Gabel said, "We can make this happen and it's a really exciting feeling for Nebraska."

Gabel is part of the group Legal Marijuana Now.

"Let us live with the freedom like alcohol users have, that tobacco users have...it just touches my heart how many people could use it medically. They are being forced on prescription drugs."

The push to legalize marijuana is in full force and a look at just how swiftly attitudes are changing nationwide is nearly enough to make anyone start buying pot penny stocks left and right. Though there has been both disappointing and encouraging signs from the federal government in regard to eventual reclassification or legalization of cannabis, we’re still seeing a state-by-state domino effect take place.