Indiana lawmakers hear, but don’t vote on, bill decriminalizing marijuana

A bill decriminalizing the possession of two ounces, or less, of marijuana received a hearing before a House committee Wednesday but isn’t expected to get additional consideration.

Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, chairs the House courts committee and said the dialogue needed to be heard but didn’t call a vote on the bill — which would have possibly advanced it to the full House Chamber.

“I’ve been asked why,” McNamara told committee members. “The answer is: we haven’t had this conversation and I think it needed to be had.”

The Hoosier State a holdout for cannabis reform

Among its peers, Indiana has been resistant to decriminalizing marijuana or legalizing it for either medicinal or recreational use. Both Kentucky and Ohio have allowed their residents to use it medicinally while Illinois and Michigan have legalized it recreationally.

Especially for those Hoosiers living close to state borders, legally obtaining the drug is no longer a challenge but Hoosiers can still face consequences in their home state.

“Indiana has an estimated $2 billion cannabis market with no quality control standards in place,” bill author Rep. Heath VanNatter, R-Kokomo, said. “While regulations are the ideal outcome, decriminalization provides our judicial and law enforcement (systems) an opportunity to reprioritize their resources to meet the community’s needs.”

[Read more at Indiana Capital Chronicle]