STATEWIDE — Lawmakers are not going to take up any legislation this upcoming legislative session on the subject of legalizing marijuana.
It’s been a touchy subject among state legislators for the last several years. More and more, Hoosiers appear to be moving towards a favorable position towards legalizing pot. Keith Johnson is an example. He lives in Indiana and tells WISH-TV cannabis helped him recover from a car accident.
“I finally said enough is enough,” Johnson said. “They had maxed me out on morphine and pain management therapy. I stopped all that and picked up cannabinoids.”
Johnson said that did the trick. Now Johnson is a board member of NORML, an organization dedicated to promoting the legalization of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use in the U.S.
Lawmakers touched on the subject of pot briefly during Organization Day at the Statehouse this week, but ultimately decided against moving forward on considering any bills given that it is a short session this year.
“I continue to be supportive of cannabis legislation in Indiana, but will not be filing a bill this session,” said State Sen. Kyle Walker (R-Lawrence). “This is a significant policy and will require more time than available during a short session.”
“I really do believe it is inevitable,” said Johnson. “50-state legality is inevitable. It’s just. how long are we going to wait? How many more excuses are we going to come up with to not do this.”
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is still one of the biggest naysayers of pot legalization. They told a summer study committee they are against it because pot needs to go through proper study in clinical trials.
