State Sen. Mike Bohacek (R-Michiana Shores) is the latest Republican to test the water on medical marijuana, announcing Monday he’s drafting legislation for the 2027 session that would legalize it in Indiana — tax it, regulate it, and write new impairment rules to go with it.
“In light of the governor’s openness to consider legislation regarding the legalization of marijuana, we need to consider a feasible marijuana policy that would be the most helpful to Hoosiers and the economy,” Bohacek said in a release.
The bill, as described, would legalize medical use, set parameters for who can prescribe and dispense it, establish a tax structure, and update Indiana’s impairment laws — including a blood-concentration threshold for THC and training for law enforcement to spot stoned drivers. It would not legalize recreational use.
Bohacek also made the now-familiar point that Indiana already allows the sale of delta-8 THC and similar cannabinoids, so taxing actual medical cannabis is “a logical next step.” Which, frankly, is hard to argue with when the gas station down the street is selling gummies that’ll knock you sideways.
The federal piece
Bohacek’s timing isn’t accidental. On April 23, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a final order moving FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act — alongside ketamine, anabolic steroids, and Tylenol with codeine. The order took effect April 28, pursuant to President Trump’s December 18 executive order. A separate DEA hearing on broader rescheduling kicks off June 29.
Recreational marijuana is still Schedule I. But the feds have now formally acknowledged that medical cannabis has accepted medical use — which knocks out one of the standard talking points opponents have leaned on for years.
Where Braun is
Gov. Mike Braun has shifted from “agnostic” in March to telling reporters in late April that Indiana shouldn’t “stick its head in the sand.” He’s directed state agencies, including Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health, to start meeting with medical cannabis advocates. He’s also been happy to tell anyone with a microphone that the holdup is legislative leadership, not him.
That would be Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, who has said every state that passes medical marijuana is “essentially passing recreational marijuana,” and House Speaker Todd Huston, who has called marijuana “a deterrent to mental health.” Neither has shown any sign of moving.
The numbers
A RAND study released April 29 for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation pegged potential tax revenue at roughly $180 million annually by year five, with a range of $100 to $270 million. The same study found 44 percent of Hoosiers live within 50 miles of a licensed dispensary in another state.
Ball State’s Hoosier Survey, meanwhile, found 84 percent of Hoosiers support some form of legal cannabis access — 59 percent for both medical and recreational, another 25 percent medical-only.
Indiana remains one of 10 states without a medical marijuana program.
