Indiana Dem pushes for decriminalization ✅

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Indiana Dem pushes for decriminalization ✅

What happened: Indiana Democrat Rep. Mitch Gore filed a bill that would legalize the consumption and possession of cannabis in the state, but commercial sales would remain banned. 

It’s perhaps a politically viable way to get legalization passed in Red states — but it begs the question, where does supply come from?

What’s in the bill: House Bill 1191 would decriminalize cannabis by allowing Indiana adults to possess up to two ounces of cannabis though it would not create a regulated marketplace.

The bill would do so by amending an existing statute that deems any level of cannabis possession a misdemeanor. The bill would not allow hash oil, and increases the level of a felony charge to possession of more than four ounces. 

What they’re saying: Opposition from across the aisle is already mounting.

“President Trump has been honest about it, that when it comes to marijuana, he said very clearly we shouldn’t smell it on the streets. You have a lot of states that have legalized it. It’s caused even more crime and issues,” Sen. Jim Banks, a Republican, said. 

“I hope Indiana is never a state that legalizes marijuana, by the way.” 

But Republican Gov. Mike Braun himself cracked the window open slightly, saying that he’s at least “amenable,” to medical cannabis legalization.

Zoom in: We’ve previously discussed legalization’s ‘Red Wall’ in this newsletter, the idea being that the progress toward cannabis legalization seems to have slowed in recent years because all of the big Blue states, where this is popular policy, have already been taken off the map.

What’s left are deep-Red, religious states like Indiana, or the Dakotas, where cannabis reform polls far lower — and where many Republican lawmakers will simply never vote for legalization, no matter the tax revenue or economic growth that would accrue to the state. 

Why it matters: The commercial applications of this decriminalization bill are slight, though it would be a boon to neighboring dispensaries in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois.

But it may be the only politically palatable way to advance reform in a state like Indiana. It’s hard for cannabis opponents to argue that decriminalization is a bad idea. They frequently point to commercialization as the key issue, and even seem to agree that forcing people into the criminal justice system for a bit of weed is a bad idea. 

Pushing for decriminalization undercuts these bad-faith arguments from conservative groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the Manhattan Institute, along with far-right personalities like Tucker Carlson. It may also be policy that gets enough Republican fence-sitters to go along, but we’re not holding our breath.

Our take: While decriminalization may be good politics in Indiana, it’s far from ideal policy.

Cannabis isn’t generated in a vacuum. The Indiana bill doesn’t address where the supply comes from. Allowing for growing at home, as an addendum to this bill, would be a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t solve the scale needed to supply a market with nearly seven million people.

It also means that those tax benefits and job growth will flow to neighboring states. Still, it might be a good step, and once Indiana residents see that the sky hasn’t fallen, they might be more amenable to further bills that would legalize sales. 

This is a case where incrementalism might just work.

-JB

“The new @ONDCP Director must commit to common-sense, evidence-based cannabis policy. That includes supporting marijuana de-scheduling and fully implementing my Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act so that federal decisions are guided by science, not stigma,” Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat, said. 

Sara Carter Bailey was confirmed as the new director of Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) earlier this week.

On January 29th, Gotham and Cultivated will host our inaugural event: The Highrise.

The Highrise’s goal is to host an event where attendees represent the full breadth and depth of the cannabis industry in New York and throughout the country.

To do that, we are asking would-be attendees to apply to attend. Only by identifying leaders throughout the industry can we truly create a representative group of attendees for The Highrise.

Spots are limited so get your application in today » thehighrise.nyc

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