Indiana is getting lonelier and lonelier. Three of its direct neighbors have now legalized recreational marijuana. The latest one to fall was Ohio, where a -referendum to greenlight adult-use cannabis cruised to an easy victory during the Nov. 7 election. The state previously only allowed medical.
Recreational sales for adults 21 and older are set to go live Dec. 7. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the millions in expected revenue will funnel to any local municipality with dispensaries, as well as toward a jobs program and substance abuse fund.
Ohio will now join Michigan, which legalized recreational back in 2018, and Illinois, which did the same two years later. Kentucky, meanwhile, allows medical marijuana thanks to an executive order Gov. Andy Beshear issued in 2022.
Indiana isn’t close to doing any of that.
Repeated attempts to legalize marijuana in the state legislature have gone nowhere, and Gov. Eric Holcomb has refused to consider any kind of change as long as marijuana remains a Schedule I narcotic in the eyes of the federal government.
Most of the hopefuls looking to replace him in 2024 are just as rigid. When the Indy Star recently reached out to candidates about the issue, only two – Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater – said they were open to the idea.
And unlike Ohio and multiple other states that have legalized cannabis through the will of the voters, Indiana doesn’t allow ballot initiatives.
That continuing prohibition causes Indiana to miss out on ever-growing piles of money. Both Michigan and Illinois compile sales figures for monthly reports. Here’s how much they’ve made recently.
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