Marijuana, Delta-8 bills to watch in the Indiana legislature. Will any pass? – IndyStar
For this session at least, the ongoing longshot marijuana conversation in Indiana has been cannabilized by Delta 8 and other marijuana-adjacent products derived from hemp.
Some years there have been dozens of bills in the Indiana legislature proposing some level of decriminalization or regulation of traditional marijuana. But with only two filed this year, it appears the conversation is almost entirely focused on this parallel market of THC products that are derived from what the government classifies as “hemp.” This market has exploded in Indiana in recent years, prompting interest among lawmakers to enact guardrails. It’s the subject of at least six bills this session.
There are several reasons this is coming to a head now.
A bill failed just short of the finish line last session to enact dosage and age limits on such products, like Delta-8 gummies. Since then, Congress has passed a bill that will, later this year, close the loophole they created years ago that allowed Delta-8 to flourish. Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said he is intent on getting a bill across the finish line this session that aligns with that federal legislation.
“I really would like to,” he said Jan. 15. “I think we’d just like in Indiana some certainty with these products so that the people manufacturing and selling them know what our laws are, and also to build in some really significant protections for in particular our youth across the state.”
But don’t equate the success of such a bill with a baby-step toward traditional marijuana regulation, necessarily ― despite President Donald Trump’s having lowered the danger-level classification on marijuana, opening the drug up to more research but not quite legalizing it.
“To me, I think they’re separate decisions,” Bray said. “I don’t think that’s a sign that we’re going to move into the marijuana industry anytime soon.”
There are some facts to understand before listing these bills.
The loophole that the 2018 Farm Bill created was a matter of definitions. Hemp and marijuana are from the same plant, Cannabis sativa. But Congress drew a line between the two based on the amount of Delta 9 THC present, the substance in the cannabis plant associated with getting “high.” Legal hemp was considered cannabis that contains less than 0.3% of Delta 9 THC, and illegal marijuana was anything above that.
This legalized things derived from hemp that are not psychoactive, like CBD and agricultural products like grains and fibers for textiles. But what this language didn’t consider is that manufacturers would figure out how to make a whole host of cannabanoids in labs, things that can be psychoactive in high enough doses, derived from this “low-THC” hemp.
The new federal law closing the loophole is supposed to take effect in November this year, though there are bills being introduced to delay the implementation, including by U.S. Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana’s 4th Congressional District. Advocates for the Delta 8 industry argue the delays are purposeful, to allow sensible regulations to come to the fore.
Senate Bill 250, by Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, is the bill with the most momentum in the Senate. Not only does it change the state’s definition of low-THC hemp to align with the new federal law going into effect in November, thereby making things like Delta-8 illegal, but it creates a new licensing structure for hemp products under the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission so that officers can enforce permitting for legal hemp and violations for illegal hemp. This bill passed out of its first committee on Jan. 15.
House Bill 1130, by Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty, takes a different tack, preserving the old definition of low-THC and “craft” hemp and allowing these to be sold, under a regulated, permitted structure, with dosage limits of up to 100 milligrams per gummy or 25 milligrams per beverage. But it prohibits the sale of these products to people under 21, and makes it a crime to sell “adulterated” products.
House Bill 1079, by Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport, and House Bill 1275, by Rep. Matt Commons, R-Williamsport, only prohibit the sale of hemp-derived THC products to people under 21 and does not change the definitions. Similar language could be added to another bill, House Bill 1052, when the House public policy committee meets Jan. 22.
House Bill 1285, by Rep. Garrett Bascom, R-Lawrenceburg, would allow manufacturers who’ve been in the business prior to 2026 to continue to produce and study products under the old definition of hemp, but they can only sell it out of state. But for all other instances, the bill redefines “low-THC hemp” to align with the new federal law going into effect in November.
House Bill 1346, by Rep. Harold Slager, R-Schererville, simply changes the state’s definition of low-THC hemp to align align with the new federal law going into effect in November, thereby making things like Delta-8 illegal.
House Bill 1298, by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, would reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug under Indiana code, matching the reclassification step that the Trump administration took last year.
House Bill 1191, by Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis, would decriminalize the possession of two ounces or less.
Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X@kayla_dwyer17.
