Top Indiana GOP Lawmakers Oppose Medical Marijuana Even As Incoming Republican Governor Says It’s Time To Legalize
From toxifillers.com with love
On the heels of a survey showing nearly 9 in 10 Indiana adults support legalizing medical marijuana—and comments from Gov.-elect Michael Braun (R) that “it’s probably time” to allow access to therapeutic cannabis—Republican leaders in the state legislature are pushing back on the idea.
“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 on Wednesday. “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.
“I don’t believe public policy should ever be built based off revenue,” Huston said. “On any public policy, I don’t think you should chase revenue.”
Bray, who said he has yet to hear a compelling case where medical marijuana has been beneficial, said that “the idea of passing a policy simply because of the revenue that it would generate is something that I inherently, completely disagree with.”
“If it’s a good policy, then do it,” he added, “and revenue may come from that. But the idea of doing it because of the amount of revenue [it would generate] is really, really bad policy in my perspective.”
One Democrat on the panel, Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, said that he believes Indiana is falling behind other nearby states that have already legalized medical marijuana. Republican panelists disagreed.
“I’m not sure we’re behind,” Huston shot back. “If we are behind on having fewer people using an addictive substance, I don’t know, I’m OK with that.”
The comments, made at the annual Dentons Legislative Conference, were first reported by State Affairs.
Opposition to medical marijuana reform by Indiana’s top Republican lawmakers is at odds with popular opinion. A recent poll of Indiana adults from Ball State University found that 62 percent of Hoosiers support legalizing both medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis, while another 25 percent support medical-only legalization.
Together, that suggests about 87 percent support across Indiana for medical marijuana reform.
“The growing support for marijuana legalization reflects national trends,” said Kevin Smith, interim director of the Ball State University’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs, which conducted the survey.
Braun, meanwhile, told local reporters earlier this month that “It’s probably time for it to have found its way to Indiana—on the medical side.”
Medical cannabis is already legal in all four states bordering Indiana: Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. All but Kentucky have also legalized marijuana for adults.
In his recent comments, the incoming governor cited earlier polling showing 70 percent support for legalizing medical marijuana. “To me that’s probably a sign that we need to do whatever the smartest method has been among the other 30-plus states that have done it,” he said.
Braun had previously indicated he’d be open to medical marijuana legalization, for example during a gubernatorial debate in October. He similarly said at the time that he would weigh law enforcement concerns heavily.
His opponent, Democrat Jennifer McCormick, had said she’d work to legalize medical marijuana before expanding the state system to full adult-use legalization.
Currently a U.S. senator, Braun in that role repeatedly voiced support for medical marijuana while failing to introduce or cosponsor any legislation that would provide patients with access to it.
“I believe, when it comes to medical marijuana, there are too many good reasons why you need to start making that legal for that purpose,” he said in 2019, adding that he feels medical cannabis legalization is “going to cascade through all states more quickly than not.”
He said in debates a year earlier that medical cannabis is about “free markets and freedom of choice” for patients and that “if a state wants to go to medical marijuana, it ought to be their prerogative” to do so.
Braun did, however, file a bill last year to ease restrictions on industrial hemp farmers, but that proposal did not moved forward.
Meanwhile in Indiana, an organization led by the former head of the state’s Republican Party is pushing lawmakers to adopt what it’s calling “safe and regulated” policies on marijuana.
“By embracing a smart and evidence-based approach that prioritizes public health, safety, and economic opportunity, we can give Hoosiers the access that they deserve and demand,” said Joe Elsener, who was previously executive director of the Indiana Republican Party and chair of the Marion County GOP.
A poll published last month by the group, Safe and Regulated Indiana, found that 70 percent of those surveyed in the state either strongly or somewhat supported adult-use legalization. Only 27 percent said they opposed the idea.
It’s not clear whether that’s the survey that Braun was referring to. He said 70 percent of Hoosiers support legalizing medical marijuana, but the Safe and Regulated Indiana poll showed 70 percent support for broader recreational cannabis legalization.
“This survey confirms what we already know. Hoosiers are overwhelmingly united behind safe and regulated marijuana policy,” Elsener said at the time. “Indiana voters strongly support legalization for adults 21+ and taxing and regulating marijuana just like alcohol. They want responsible legalization because they know it means safer streets, shutting down drug dealers, and keeping tax revenue here in our state.”
Braun will replace outgoing Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R). In March of this year, Holcomb signed a bill that contained provisions to fund clinical research trials on the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin. The reform provisions that lawmakers included in that bill were taken from a standalone measure from Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R).
Most American Voters Support Some Form Of Marijuana Legalization, Poll From Conservative Think Tank Shows
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
The post Top Indiana GOP Lawmakers Oppose Medical Marijuana Even As Incoming Republican Governor Says It’s Time To Legalize appeared first on Marijuana Moment.