Terre Haute – This weekend, the Higher Fellowship lead a rally outside of the courthouse in Terre Haute.
“Our goal today is to educate the general public about medical cannabis and to inform them of legislation going on,” said Bobby Jo Young, Higher Fellowship President.
A bill proposing the use of medical marijuana in Indiana may be closer than you think.
“You know the talk is that we are going to hear a bill from Representative Lucas out of the Seymour area to legalize medical marijuana,” said Republican Senator Jon Ford, District 38.
But according to Senator Jon Ford, Indiana is still far from joining the other 32 states that have legalized the medical use.
“I would find it hard to believe that we would pass that this year,” said Senator Ford.
“Our biggest obstacle is fear and people set in their ways of the views of what cannabis is,” said Young.
During the last session meeting, Indiana legalized the use of cannabidial oil to treat children with seizures.
But Senator Ford says that even if Indiana does legalize the use of medical marijuana, Hoosiers will still not be able to legally smoke it.
“If it ever passes it is not going to be like Cheech and Chong smoking in their living room. It is going to be a pill, patch, oil. And you may not ever know that that person us taking marijuana, they may not have the symptoms of someone who smokes it for their leisure,” said Senator Ford.
Ford says it is bad timing for this bill to be presented as Indiana is currently dealing with an opioid crisis.
“You know right now as a state we are dealing with the opioid crisis. There is a legalized drug that went through the FDA approval and it is clearly a gateway to other drugs if misused,” said Senator Ford.
According to ford it is likely that officials will wait and see how the cannabidial oil effects those who need it before they move towards addressing medical marijuana.
If the bill goes to Session, it will not be voted on until the meeting in January.
credit:mywabashvalley.com
