JEFFERSON, Ind.
(AP) - Some Indiana police officers are reporting that they’re seeing an
increase in marijuana products, including pot-laced edibles and vaping
devices, coming from states where marijuana has been legalized to one degree
or another.
State Police Sgt.
Carey Huls said authorities are observing an increase of specialty marijuana
products coming from states such as California or Colorado with established
laws permitting their use, the News and Tribune reported.
“It’s not uncommon
to see those. We’re just concerned for the safety of everybody, especially
when you see something packaged in a way that might introduce younger people
to it,” Huls said. “It’s a dangerous product - many people disagree and say
marijuana is very safe, but many of these products (are) not regulated.”
Indiana borders
three states with some legal approval of the drug, including two - Michigan
and Illinois - that have legalized it for recreational use.
Ohio is one of 22
states that only permit the drug’s medicinal usage, but Indiana and Kentucky
still have laws criminalizing any possession of the drug.
Mark Palmer, police
chief of Clarksville, said he’s noticed a surge in marijuana over the past
few years. “It started small and it’s escalated, but with more states
(legalizing) marijuana, we’ve definitely felt the effects here,” he said.
In November,
Clarksville Police Detective Joel DeMoss spearheaded an investigation with
the Southern Indiana Drug Task Force that resulted in the arrest of two
suspects and the confiscation of $1.7 million in cash and $1.5 million in
drugs, including more than 100 pounds of marijuana, 15,000 marijuana vape
pens and 4 pounds of THC wax.
Indiana lawmakers
have proposed marijuana legislation in the General Assembly in recent years,
but none of the proposals advanced. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said this
year that he tried marijuana as a college student, but that he opposes its
legalization in Indiana.
State Rep. Rita
Fleming, of Jeffersonville, said she’d like to first evaluate how things go
in states like Colorado before deciding whether Indiana should relax its
restrictions.
“I don’t find that
to be terribly controversial,” she said.