INDIANAPOLIS — A group of doctors believes it’s time for marijuana to be legalized in all 50 states.
Right now, just 18 states have made weed fully legal. Indiana is not one of them. The Doctors for Cannabis Regulation want that to change.
In an interview with IndyPolitics, Dr. David Nathan says legalizing marijuana helps reduce the use of other drugs in those legalized states, and he says the studies back it up.
“You’re actually seeing opioid use tends to go down, and opioid overdoses, those numbers seem to be trending downward,” Nathan said.
He says it’s states like Indiana, where weed is not legal or decriminalized, where it can lead to people doing other drugs.
“The people who are selling it will sell cannabis to anybody. They don’t check for IDs. And they will often give free samples of the more dangerous drugs.”
Nathan added that weed should also be regulated. He says when you do that, it’s not as dangerous, because people will get to choose what they want, similar to alcohol.
“People are going to think of this as ‘let me not try to go find some Everclear, some 190 proof cannabis,’ so to speak, but rather, let me look for the ‘beer and wine’ that is more moderate in its effects,” he said.
Nathan believes some lawmakers are hesitant about legalizing marijuana because they fear that making it legal will make them look “soft” on drugs. He also says a study shows two-thirds of Hoosiers think weed some be legal in Indiana.
