"But then the tsunami hit. Overnight it seemed like a quarter of my patients were daily users," she said.

She went on to say it changed not only her practice of medicine but her home life. So she and her husband quit their jobs and uprooted six angry kids and moved to Nebraska. Now she is trying to ensure it isn't legalized here.

Gov. Pete Ricketts also opposes the bill, and wrote a column about it last week.

"Once the marijuana industry puts roots down here, Nebraska will be under pressure to legalize recreational use," Ricketts said.

Wishart had given the bill less than a 30 percent chance of getting through the Legislature. She and Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld have already begun gathering signatures on a petition initiative to go on the 2020 general election ballot, and she gives that an 80 percent chance of passing. If it does pass by a vote of the people, it would have far fewer controls.

Morfeld also said this was the Legislature's last chance to pass a reasonable and narrowly tailored medical cannabis law. The polling he has seen -- at least three polls -- is off the charts in support of legalization, he said.