President Donald Trump's embrace of marijuana as a drug with recognized medical uses hasn't yet trickled down to the Republican state lawmakers who comprise a supermajority of the Indiana House.
On Thursday, the House rejected, via an unrecorded voice vote, an attempt to direct the state seed commissioner to begin the process of permitting between three and 10 Indiana farmers to cultivate marijuana seed.
State Rep. Kyle Miller, D-Fort Wayne, who proposed the amendment to House Bill 1192, said, given Trump's Dec. 18 executive order directing the attorney general to reclassify marijuana as a useful drug, Indiana should likewise welcome marijuana as a new agricultural product for Hoosier farmers to grow.
"While this part of the chapter is open, we should get prepared for what Donald Trump, through his executive order, has asked — to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III," Miller said.
"The longer we stick our heads in the sand, we're hurting our farmers, we're hurting our constituents. We need to move forward on this issue."
State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron, the sponsor of the underlying legislation that writes various administrative rules into the state seed law, successfully urged his colleagues to reject Miller's proposal.
"The Indiana criminal code prohibits the possession of marijuana seeds that are capable of germination. This amendment seeks to allow the state seed commissioner to offer permits to farmers for an action that is currently illegal in Indiana. The amendment does not alter the criminal code and thus creates a statutory conflict. I ask you to defeat the amendment," Aylesworth said.
Indiana is among just 10 states where marijuana use is prohibited for both medicinal and recreational purposes because Hoosier lawmakers repeatedly have declined to take advantage of a 2013 decision by Democratic President Barack Obama to have the federal government essentially ignore state-level marijuana legalization, so long as states did not make marijuana available to children or impede federal drug trafficking enforcement.
Subsequent presidents, including Trump, have continued that policy, making marijuana de facto legal in most states, including every state bordering Indiana.
Polls show an overwhelming majority of Hoosiers support marijuana legalization and many patronize out-of-state marijuana retailers, despite a 2025 lawbanning marijuana billboards and advertising in Indiana.
Unlike other states, there is no mechanism for Hoosier voters to bypass the Legislature and legalize pot through a ballot referendum.