SCOTTSBLUFF — The Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office has joined at least one Nebraska prosecutor in saying he believes his office has higher priorities than handling cannabidiol oil cases.

Scotts Bluff County Attorney Dave Eubanks said that after researching the issue, he has opted for a similar position as Don Kleine, prosecutor in Douglas County, “that we have higher priorities than cracking down on an oil that doesn’t have any THC.”

According to Scotts Bluff County Court documents, Eubanks filed on Monday to dismiss charges of distribution of a controlled substance, a Class II felony, against Heather L. Beguin, 45, and her son, Dreyson Beguin. Heather Beguin and Dreyson Beguin had been arrested on Dec. 14 on the second day of operations of a store they opened called KB Natural Alternatives.

Using a strict interpretation of Nebraska’s law, Eubanks said, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is illegal. During the 2015 Nebraska legislative session, the state allowed two exceptions for CBD in law (LB 390) passed: for use by the University of Nebraska Medical Center for study of the use of CBD oil in the treatment of seizures and for the FDA-approved Epidiolex, an oral solution used for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients 2 years of age and older. Epidiolex is first and currently the only cannabidiol oil solution approved by the FDA. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson has issued memos in 2017 and again in November 2018 reminding law enforcement that CBD “has and continues to be” illegal.