As feds move to reclassify marijuana, here’s where Indiana’s governor candidates stand

Federal restrictions on marijuana have long been a reason Indiana’s top elected officials have declined to rethink their stance on the drug for medical or recreational use.

But Thursday, the federal Department of Justice officially proposed re-classifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to the less-restrictive Schedule III, acknowledging the medical benefits of the drug and its lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I drugs like heroin.

Indiana’s legislative leaders, with whom the power to change the state’s marijuana laws lie, are talking about this change at the federal level, even if they didn’t assign the topic to an interim legislative study committee this year as they have in previous summers.

“It’s certainly a topic, especially if the federal government does make a change, that obviously is relevant,” Senate President Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, told reporters after legislative leaders assigned committee topics on Tuesday. “It’s not to say, however, that there won’t be some people looking at that over the summer.”

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers added that he shared a Wall Street Journal article about it with “many people” over the weekend.

[Read more at Indianapolis Star]