Indiana's nowhere close to legalizing marijuana in any form. And that's probably a-OK with Michigan and Illinois.
According to their most recent monthly data, our neighbors raked in more than $400 million combined in recreational cannabis sales in April and March, respectively.
Michigan led the way with more than $276 million in adult-use sales last month, while medical marijuana brought in another $1.8 million.
Illinois, meanwhile, recorded just under $149 million in March, according to its Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office. More than $34 million of that came from out-of-state residents living in places like Indiana.
And soon, another nearby state will join their ranks. Ohio, where voters legalized marijuana through a ballot measure last year, could launch adult-use sales as soon as next month. Medical marijuana is already legal there.
Even Kentucky is getting in on the action. Medicinal marijuana will become legal there in January, and the state is in the process of "establishing the processes and procedures for medical cannabis businesses and registered cardholders," its state cannabis website says.
Where Indiana stands with marijuana
All this happens as Indiana remains mired in its usual purgatory.
While other states gobble up millions of dollars, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is among a group of other AG's pushing for a nationwide ban on Delta 8 THC: another compound in the cannabis plant that was legalized federally due to a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Delta 8 produces similar effects to Delta 9 – the active ingredient in traditional marijuana – and briefly flourished on the Evansville market until Rokita issued an opinion in January 2023 claiming Delta 8 was still illegal here. That led to a crackdown last summer in which Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers sent a letter to local cannabis shops saying those selling the product could face penalties as harsh as a Level 2 felony.
Cannabis distributors are currently challenging Rokita's opinion in court.
The Indiana General Assembly is just as inflexible. All the marijuana bills proposed in the 2024 session failed, and there's little chance that changes in 2025.
Legalization advocates saw a glimmer of hope earlier this year when news leaked that Drug Enforcement Agency could reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug, where it sits alongside and heroin and cocaine, to a Schedule III drug.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has long said he would never support legalization as long as marijuana remained Schedule I. But he'll be gone in January, replaced either by Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick or Libertarian Donald Rainwater.
But only Rainwater supports full legalization, the Indianapolis Star reported. McCormick favors legalizing medicinal cannabis, while Braun's position remains murky.
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