Nebraska Changes Mind, OKs Pot License Plate

Nebraska has relented and approved a vanity license plate reading “NE 420,” after the ACLU threatened to sue the state on First Amendment grounds. Lawyer Frank Shoemaker requested the plates as a show of his support for legalizing marijuana in the state, Reuters explains, but the state had turned him down on the grounds that the plate promoted illegal drug use and had, in Reuters’ words, “other negative associations.”

For the non-potheads in the audience, “420” has a rich lore in pot culture (see this old Huffington Post article for a theory on its origins) and these days refers to April 20, the date of the unofficial National Pot Smoking Day. “NE” simply refers to Nebraska. Shoemaker is leading a petition drive for a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in the state. “All I ever wanted was to work with fellow Nebraskans in the democratic process,” he says. “No one should have to fear government censorship for his political views.” (More Nebraska stories.)