Indiana Senate Committee Passes Bill to Align State Hemp Laws With Forthcoming Federal Changes

An Indiana bill to align state law with the forthcoming federal ban on intoxicating hemp products last week passed the state Senate Commerce and Technology Committee, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports. The legislation would also regulate less potent products allowed under the federal reforms. 

Cory Harris, representing the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, told the committee that “it is imperative” that lawmakers act during this session “to harmonize with federal policy” because “failure to do so will mean that Indiana’s policy will be less stringent than federal law, and therefore equate to Indiana being a legal cannabis market.”

Justin Swanson, representing the Midwest Hemp Council and 3Chi, a THC product retailer, argued that the proposal is “premature” and that the federal and state laws “will decimate an entire industry in the state.” Swanson noted that “the landscape is still not settled,” as a federal bill sponsored by Indiana Rep. Jim Baird (R) has proposed delaying the ban’s rollout by two years.   

Additionally, the law includes language that would prevent state law from aligning with federal reclassification of cannabis, as President Donald Trump (R) directed in an executive order last month. 

State Sen. Aaron Freeman (R), the bill’s sponsor, said he’d like to “eliminate all these things from the face of the planet, period.” 

“This bill simply says that we would not automatically follow what the federal government does, that we would decide, 150 of us – that we would make that decision, not the federal government for us.” — Freeman during the committee hearing via the Capital Chronicle 

The Indiana proposal would also put the state’s Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC) in charge of regulating what remains of the industry: implementing permits for manufacturers, distributers, retailers, and carriers. Hemp businesses would also be banned from advertising and operating within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds. The bill would direct 70% of hemp-derived tax revenues to ATC administrative efforts, 20% to enforcement, 5% to the state’s 988 suicide and crisis hotline, and 5% to the general fund. 

The bill heads next to the Appropriations Committee before being considered by the full Senate.