The future of the sale of cannabidiol, or CBD, oil in Indiana remains unknown after an Indiana senator declined to call for a vote on two bills that would legalize the sale of the substance if certain specifications are met.
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard roughly two hours of testimony Tuesday morning on Senate Bills 52 and 294, both authored by Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis. Senate Bill 294 would expand on legislation passed last year that allowed for the sale of CBD containing up to 0.3 percent THC to people on a state registry who have epilepsy. Senate Bill 52 would permit the sale of CBD oil to any Hoosier by any retailer, provided the oil contains no THC, the element in marijuana that causes euphoric sensations.
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Young told the committee SB 294 came about as a way of solving a practical problem that arose after the passage of last year’s legislation. Current law regarding CBD oil allows patients with epilepsy to use the substance if they are included on the state registry, but those patients cannot purchase the oil in Indiana. Instead, they must go out-of-state to purchase CBD oil.
To solve that issue, Young’s bill would allow Indiana retailers to sell CBD oil to people on the registry, though those people would have to produce both a unique bar code and a state-issued identification each time they make a CBD purchase. For its part, the retailer would be required to store CBD oil in a locked case, verify the purchaser is on the registry and record each purchase.
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