Indiana Republican lawmakers have rejected the latest Democratic-led attempt to legalize marijuana in the state.
Rep. Kyle Miller (D) sought to remove cannabis from the state’s list of controlled substances through an amendment to a broader bill that’s focused on adding certain drugs to the statute. But following a brief debate, the House ruled the amendment out of order.
“This was an opportunity to start the conversation about the possibility of legalizing marijuana in our state, and House Republicans have signaled they aren’t interested in bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to Indiana,” Miller said.
After the amendment was raised on the floor on Monday, the GOP presiding officer deemed the proposal out of order on the basis that it violated a rule stipulating that no bill can be amended “by annexing to it or incorporating with it any other bill pending before the House.”
It’s not clear how the amendment to simply strike cannabis from the controlled substances list violates the rule, but the House voted 66-29 to uphold the chair’s ruling on the bill.
“Normally, when we have arguments over bill pending, you have an amendment that has a lot of identical language, or very similar language, to a bill that’s already been introduced, and it’s attempting to accomplish the same policy goal,” Rep. Matt Pierce (D) said, contesting the ruling. “That is not what’s happening here.”
“The amendment before us that’s being ruled a violation of Rule 117 is actually amending language that already exists in the bill. This is really important,” he said. “If this ruling stands, what it’s saying is you can’t adjust the language that exists in the actual bill before you.”
Rep. Ben Smaltz (R) argued that, because there’s been separate legislation introduced to remove cannabis from the controlled substances list, the amendment would effectively represent an improper bill substitution.
In any case, the amendment sponsor said the vote to defeat his proposal is a missed opportunity to have a robust debate about marijuana policy reform in a legislature that has long resisted the issue.
“If they don’t want to have this discussion, I think they owe it to Hoosiers to explain why they don’t want to grow our economy, like 24 states have done using marijuana,” Miller said in a statement following the vote. “They also own an explanation to chronically ill Hoosiers who could benefit from a medicinal marijuana program, which 38 states in the country have, why they are so inclined to limit their access to drugs that could alleviate some of their suffering.”
“Throughout the country, legislative bodies are having conversations about the economic and health benefits legalizing marijuana can have,” he said. “I’m disappointed that Indiana Republicans are so willing to be left behind as other states reap the benefits while we won’t even kick off the conversation be striking it as a Schedule 1 drug.”
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Meanwhile, earlier this month, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) reiterated that he’s “amenable” to legalizing medical marijuana in the Hoosier state, but he acknowledged it remains an open question whether Republican lawmakers will even take up the matter.
Braun has previously said that “it’s probably time” to allow access to therapeutic cannabis among patients in the state. Those comments came alongside a poll indicating that nearly 9 in 10 Indiana adults (87 percent) support marijuana legalization.
Top Republicans in the legislature, however, have openly opposed marijuana reform.
“It’s no secret that I am not for this,” Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R) said during a panel at a law firm event in Indianapolis last month. “I don’t have people coming to me with really compelling medical cases as to why it’s so beneficial. And any state that I’ve seen pass medical marijuana is essentially passing recreational marijuana.”
House Speaker Todd Huston (R), meanwhile, doubted any medical benefits associated with marijuana, calling the substance “a deterrent to mental health.” He and others suggested that lawmakers supportive of the reform merely want to boost state revenue.
When Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor (D) said he felt Indiana was in fact falling behind other nearby states that have already legalized medical marijuana, Huston shot back: “If we are behind on having fewer people using an addictive substance, I don’t know, I’m OK with that.”
A number of marijuana reform bills have already been introduced for the coming year, including one—from Republican Reps. Jim Lucas and Shane Lindauer—that would legalize medical marijuana for people with “serious medical conditions as determined by their physician.”
The state Department of Health would be responsible for regulating the program under that bill, HB 1178. The legislation would also take steps to prevent “harassment of medical marijuana users by law enforcement officers” and prohibit “cooperation with federal law enforcement officials seeking to enforce federal laws that criminalize the use of marijuana authorized in Indiana,” according to a summary.
Other bills include a Democrat-led adult-use legalization measure (HB 1332), a Republican proposal to decriminalize possession of personal possession and cultivation of cannabis (HB 1145) as well as a Democratic senator’s plan to legalize both medical and recreational use (SB 113).
Rep. Heath VanNatter (R), the author of the decriminalization bill and a backer of a broader legalization legislation (HB 1630), said his goal is “capturing the existing market with responsible solutions in its entirety out of the gate,” according to WTHR. “We ensure that law enforcement and Hoosiers—not criminals—benefit from this reform.”
The legalization bill is supported by the group Safe and Regulated Indiana.
Republican Rep. Jake Tesha is supporting VanNetter’s legalization bill and told State Affairs he believes public support for legalization continues to grow.
“Hoosiers are reaching out, they’re asking for this,” the lawmaker said. “We believe that it’s time to have the conversation. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean that we’re not going to push forward.”
Sam Barloga, a spokesperson for state Democrats, identified marijuana as an area where the party might find agreement with the Republican governor in the new legislative session.
“As a party, we stand ready to work with Governor Braun where we can find common ground, such as cannabis reform, and on the issues Hoosiers care about,” Barloga said.
It’s still unclear, however, whether supporters can win over enough Republicans in the legislature to move the proposal forward.
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Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
Indiana Republican lawmakers have rejected the latest Democratic-led attempt to legalize marijuana in the state. Rep. Kyle Miller (D) sought to remove cannabis from the state’s list of controlled substances through an amendment to a broader bill that’s focused on adding certain drugs to the statute. But following a brief debate, the House ruled the Read More
