It is true that certain states have tried over the last few years to lower the amount of non-violent drug offenders that are put in jail. However, the Indiana Legislature is also thinking of a measure that would increase the jail time for those caught with illegal substances… Well, except for cannabis.
The bill – HB 1235 – would get rid of a law that the state put forth in 2014 making the sentences for offenses related to drugs less severe. In addition, it would set forth new rules that would bring back minimum sentences against drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. The legislation was proposed by Representative Greg Steuerwald, and he believes that it would help stop the drug problem spreading throughout the state by making repeat offenders do full time instead of being let go after serving just three-fourths of their time.
“We have a serious drug problem in Indiana that must be addressed,” Steuerwald stated a few weeks ago in a press statement. “Hopefully drug dealers learn their lesson the first time they go to jail, but if they don’t, we will send them a longer sentence.”
Maybe the only good thing that could arise from this crazy proposal is that, for the first time, cannabis is not being attacked. This is proof of a huge step in the overall attitude of legislatures on cannabis, which has previously rarely listened to any hearings on marijuana in the past. Steuerwald’s bill states that a sentence would only be altered if a “person has a prior conviction, in any jurisdiction, for dealing with a controlled substance that is not marijuana, hashish, hash oil, or Salvia Divinorum.” Advocates of the bill, such as executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, David Powell, are not the best people to make up drug laws, evidently.
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