All four cannabis reform bills filed this session in Indiana have already been quashed by lawmakers, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports. Last month the House held a hearing for a cannabis decriminalization measure – the first time in the chamber – but lawmakers decided not to bring the measure to the floor for a full vote
Bills filed in the Senate – one to decriminalize possession up to one ounce, another to create a medical cannabis program, and one to legalize adult-use cannabis and enact a retail tax structure – all died earlier this session after the respective committees tasked to hold hearing on the legislation declined to take up the legislation, the report says.
Another measure to establish a legal defense for people accused of operating vehicles or boats with cannabis in their blood as long as they weren’t intoxicated at the time also did not get a Senate committee hearing, effectively killing the bill for the year.
A Senate committee also refused to hear a bill to establish regulatory testing and packaging requirements for the sale and distribution of craft hemp flower. That measure would have also set age limits on low-THC cannabis products at 21-years-old.
The sweeping rejection of cannabis bills by Indiana lawmakers means the bills will have to wait until the next session – or subsequent sessions – to be reintroduced and reconsidered by the legislature.
