Pro Marijuana Tour Concludes in Evansville

Evansville IN

28 April, 2022

7:41 AM

Description

By Tim Jagielo, WNIN April 28, 2022 A statewide cannabis legalization awareness tour that was supported by state democrats ends in Evansville. The seven-day tour was run in conjunction with NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law. The tour included stops in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend. Marijuana is currently illegal in all forms in Indiana. Vanderburgh County Democratic chair Cheryl Schultz said there are financial benefits to legalization. "I think we've seen so much money going to Illinois and Michigan that could be staying in Indiana, if we were allowed to sell and produce the product in the state," she said. Speakers on the tour included Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott and military veterans who say they've been helped by the drug, like Jeff Piper and Jason Straw. Straw is chairman of the Indiana chapter of NORML. Evansville City Councilor Kaitlin Moore spoke in favor of legalizing marijuana. She says there is no movement to legalize at the city level. "All we can do is show up and raise awareness, talk about it, try to bring it down from a moral issue to an everyday issue," she said. At the national level, the MORE Act, or the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, passed the US House of Representatives on April 1, 220 to 204. The intent of the act is to decriminalize Marijuana nationwide. WNIN is the NPR/PBS affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. We serve Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois from our multimedia facility located on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville. For the past several years, the recognized quality of our local news has placed us among the best small market radio news organizations in the nation.