(NETWORK INDIANA) Michigan legalized recreational marijuana last month, but Governor Holcomb says his opposition to loosening Indiana laws hasn’t changed.
Senate Democrats have made medical marijuana one of their priorities for next year, and some Republican legislators support them. But the idea still faces long odds of becoming law over opposition from House Speaker Brian Bosma and from Holcomb. The governor says marijuana remains against federal law, and says the various states defying that prohibition are setting up a confusing hodgepodge of laws. And he says there’s still no solid research to confirm supporters’ claims of medical benefits.
Holcomb says he’s glad Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Indiana’s former state health commissioner, has called for such research. For now, though, he says supporters are glossing over more compelling evidence from parents who say pot was a gateway drug for their kids, or from insurance companies who raised premiums after a rise in driving under the influence in states where marijuana has been legalized.
33 states have legalized medical marijuana — 10 of those, including Michigan, have legalized recreational use too. Holcomb suggests some of those states have one eye on the tax revenue they can collect.