INDIANAPOLIS -- As the federal rescheduling of marijuana plays out, and with a new governor soon to be at the helm, some Indiana Democrats have expressed cautious optimism about medical marijuana legalization efforts next session.
This comes as the DEA announced it would work to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance last month. For Navy veteran Keith Johnson, who runs an apothecary in the heart of Indianapolis, the decision could prove life-changing.
”I was damaged pretty severely by pharmaceutical medicines," Johnson said.
Johnson, who is also the communications director for Indiana NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), said that treatments for a TBI he sustained while in the military ended up hurting him more than helping him.
”I got organ damage, liver damage, kidney, destroyed my thyroid, I went toxic," Johnson said.
According to Johnson, cannabis changed everything after 15 years of pharmaceutical medicines. However, he and many other fellow veterans who suffer from PTSD can only legally turn to artificially converted products such as Delta 8.
”I see what the medicines are doing to my brothers and sisters out there and it needs change," Johnson said.
State Sen. Rodney Pol (D-Michigan City) said the federal reclassification could make it much harder for Statehouse Republican leadership to kill the conversation surrounding medical marijuana.
”For years now, we continuously hear,' Well, we’re not doing anything until the federal government does something.' Well now the federal government is doing something," Sen. Pol said.
But other Democrats, like State Rep. Vanessa Summers (D-Indianapolis), said they're still on the fence as to whether or not Statehouse Republican leaders will take the renewed federal efforts into consideration.
”It’s still up to the powers that be that get the legislation and decide to send it to a committee," Rep. Summer said.
Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the bipartisan group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said that even if marijuana is ultimately reclassified, that doesn't mean it becomes legal.
”You’re not going to be able to go to a pharmacy and fill a prescription for marijuana because there is no FDA-approved product called marijuana," Dr. Sabet said.
”There’s a lot of work to be done, and if today it were moved to Schedule III, we’d still have a year to two years in Indiana before things get sorted out," Johnson said.
FOX59/CBS4 reached out to Republican leadership within the General Assembly for comment but had not heard back by the time this article was published.