Indiana residents spend nearly $2 billion on cannabis each year, despite legalizing neither medical nor adult cannabis in the state, according to a RAND study commissioned by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The report shows that the state currently spends between $10 million and $20 million annually to enforce its cannabis laws, while cannabis revenue could reach as much as $180 million annually — or about 1% of the state’s General Fund.

Three of Indiana’s four neighboring states—Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio—have legalized adult-use cannabis, resulting in 44% of Hoosiers living within a 50-mile drive of a licensed dispensary across state lines and another 96% living within 100 miles of a licensed dispensary. REPORT says.

The study found about 1.3 million Indiana Residents aged 12 and over have used cannabis in the past year, with about 929,000 of the group using cannabis in the past month, and about 433,000 using cannabis daily or weekly. In 2024, 13,250 Hoosiers were arrested for cannabis, with 90% of those arrests for possession; In 75% of these cases, other non-cannabis charges were filed.

The report notes that despite Indiana having the “most restrictive” cannabis laws in the country, intoxicating hemp products are “widely available” across the state.

A recent Texas poll found that 75% of voters support medical cannabis reforms, KTAL reports.

The survey by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates found that while three-quarters of respondents said they support the legalization of medical cannabis in general, only 11% said they had previously heard of the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), which state lawmakers passed in 2015 to grant limited access to cannabinoid-based products.

Of the 1,000 respondents, 44% said they would be more likely to vote for a legislator who supported TCUP, while only 13% said they would be less likely to vote for them.

Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers passed a new law last year expanding the TCUP to increase the number of licensed operators and allow new methods of consumption, including the distribution of vaporized or aerosolized medical cannabis, while smoking remains prohibited. The expansions also included adding traumatic brain injury, chronic pain and any terminal illness or condition requiring hospice as qualifying conditions for the program.

The poll, which was designed to gauge voter reaction to the TCUP expansions, found that 63% of Texas Republicans support legalizing medical cannabis.

The US House of Representatives voted 224-200 on Tuesday to approve the federal farm bill, which contains some hemp-related provisions but excludes language to delay or reverse expected federal changes to hemp-derived THC this November. of reports.

The US first legalized industrial hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill, which was passed during President Trump’s first term. The original legalization language covered the hemp plant and all its derivatives, as long as the crop contained less than 0.3% THC. The changes allowed a national gray market for hemp-derived cannabinoids that quickly grew into a multibillion-dollar industry as operators established methods of converting hemp-derived CBD to delta-8 THC and other intoxicating cannabinoids.

But the industry was plunged into uncertainty last year when President Trump signed a spending bill that contained language to shut down the sale of intoxicating hemp products nationwide.

According to the report, the hemp provisions in the Farm, Food, and Homeland Security Act of 2026 seek to clarify regulations and reduce the burden faced by industrial hemp farmers in the US.

The farm bill moves to the Senate for consideration, where advocates hope lawmakers will propose protections for the sunset hemp industry.

Unless Congress passes any changes or exemptions to the rules, the current hemp cannabinoid industry will effectively end on November 12, 2026.