Maybe Tom Pence should’ve stayed on as Governor of Indiana. The current Vice President of the United States of America hs been very vocal about his opposition to medical and recreational marijuana. Some of his past statments about cannabis still strike fear in pro-cannabis activists across the country.
Yet, the state he once to reigned supreme over are pretty close to making medical marijuana legal.
Per 420intel
On Thursday, both the House and Senate put their seal of approval on proposals designed to give epilepsy patients the freedom to use cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis derivative that has been shown to decrease the frequency of seizures. The medical marijuana approved by Indiana lawmakers would be devoid of THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis.
“You can smoke 700 acres and all you’re going to get is really red eyes and probably a really sick cold,” Republican Senator James Tomes told The Statehouse File. “But you’re not going to get a buzz.”
This is the first time Indiana’s legislative forces have given any consideration to a bill pertaining to marijuana. It was the restrictive nature of the proposals, and lack of THC, that persuaded lawmakers to give them a fair shot.
The bills call for patients to have tried at least two different prescription medications before a physician is allowed to offer them a recommendation for cannabis oil.
Interestingly, Senator Karen Tallian, the lawmaker who has been pushing marijuana reform for the past several years, said she is not a big fan of this legislation because it is sloppy and will do very little to actually benefit the people of Indiana.
“I don’t like it and I think it’s a mess,” Tallian told the Statehouse File. “I am going to vote yes anyway because it’s the only mess around.”
So, everyone might not be all in on the plan, but if things go right, Indiana can join the ranks of other states that allow their residents to access marijuana for medical purposes.