Will Trump’s interest in reclassifying marijuana push Indiana towards legalization?

Efforts to legalize marijuana for either medical or adult use have always faced an uphill battle in Indiana.

In 2023, Rep. Heath VanNatter, R-Kokomo, made history by actually getting a legislative hearing on his bill to decriminalize possession of two ounces or less of marijuana. Ultimately, the bill failed to advance.

Now, President Donald Trump has announced he may support federal reclassification of marijuana as a less dangerous drug with medical benefits on the federal level, a move that advocates hope will spur Indiana to permit legalization in some form.

Justin Swanson, a partner with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP and chair of the firm’s Cannabis group, said his understanding was that either the DEA could put out a formal notice for comments and restart the process, or the agency could just issue a final order to reclassify the drug.

“It remains to be seen if it’s going to happen or not,” Swanson said, adding, “I think it would certainly add to the momentum we’ve seen in the last couple of years.”

Swanson noted that Trump has signaled some support in the past but didn’t necessarily follow through on the federal level.

During his run for president in 2016, Trump said that he backed medical marijuana and that the issue should be left up to the states. But during his first term, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal.

Trump said Aug. 11 that he hopes to decide in the coming weeks about whether to support changes to the way marijuana is regulated.

The Justice Department last year formally moved to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, to a less dangerous Schedule III substance, which includes such things as ketamine and some anabolic steroids.

That proposal drew nearly 43,000 public comments.

The Drug Enforcement Administration was still in the review process when Trump succeeded Biden in January, triggering a re-examination of policies across the federal government, the Associated Press reported.

Chad Dickerson, an attorney and CEO of Viridis Law PC, is board member of the cannabis advocacy group Indiana NORML.

If marijuana is reclassified as a Schedule III drug it could shift attitudes among state lawmakers, particularly for medical use, Dickerson said.

He noted that former Gov. Eric Holcomb had always maintained a stout opposition to legalization as long as marijuana was classified as a Schedule 1 drug on the federal level.

Braun, legislative leaders waiting on federal government

Medical marijuana is already legal in 40 states and the District of Columbia, with recreational use now permitted in 24 states and D.C.

Indiana is surrounded by states where marijuana is legal for either both uses, or medical, which is legal in Kentucky.

In the past, Indiana’s political leadership has been lukewarm on the idea of legalization, although that could change with federal reclassification and Trump’s support.

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray told the Indiana Lawyer in April that, with regard to marijuana, “it’s important that we acknowledge that we are now essentially surrounded as a state. We can’t exist in a vacuum. More than 30 states have legalized marijuana in some capacity, including those states around us.”

At the time, Bray said he was unconvinced that legalizing marijuana and saying it is an okay product is good for the state of Indiana.

“I think in particular, there’s an awful lot of studies that have a lot of veracity to me that suggest that it’s not healthy, in particular, for the mental health of young minds, and so I don’t feel like we need to weigh in on that and legalize it very quickly. I know that it’s becoming more and more popular, of course, across the state of Indiana, and also in this building,” Bray said of the Statehouse.

When asked about Trump’s announcement and the possibility of federal reclassification, Molly Swigart, Bray’s communications director, told The Lawyer Bray “isn’t going to speculate about what steps the federal government might take and will wait until any formal steps are taken to comment.”

A spokesperson for House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, did not respond to The Lawyer’s emailed questions regarding Trump’s announcement.

Gov. Mike Braun said during his campaign that he was open to discussion on legalizing the drug for medical use.

After Trump’s announcement earlier this month, Braun told IndyStar the president’s support could add “a little more fuel to the fire” in terms of legalizing marijuana in the state.

What’s next?

Rescheduling marijuana doesn’t legalize it on a state or federal level.

About six in 10 voters across the country said they favor legalizing recreational use nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 U.S. voters conducted during last year’s election.

Polling from Gallup shows support for marijuana legalization has grown significantly, from just 36% support in 2005 to 68% last year.

In Indiana, Ball State University’s 2024 Hoosier Survey found strong support for marijuana legalization, with 62% favoring full—recreational and medicinal— legalization and an additional 25% backing medicinal-only legalization.

Dickerson said there is pressure to legalize marijuana in some form and it’s an issue that has bipartisan support across the state.

“The vast majority of Hoosiers want to see a change,” Dickerson said.

For the 2025 session, Dickerson said legislators could establish a cannabis board to develop a framework of rules for taxing and regulating use.

He said other states, like Ohio, seemed to have taken at least a couple of years to set up their regulatory infrastructure.

Swanson said that what some marijuana advocates are doing is trying to reframe the issue of legalization and ask legislators questions, like how does marijuana prohibition impact law enforcement.

He said the general public in Indiana is already ahead of the state and federal government in terms of acceptance of marijuana.•