INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines Friday on a measure that would decriminalize marijuana use in the country.
The proposal would also allow for the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis sales. The overall vote passed 228-164, but it’s unlikely to pass into law with a Republican-controlled Senate and White House.
Still, the vote shows how far support for removing marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances has come.
A Gallop poll from earlier this yearshowed 68% of adult Americanssupport legalization of marijuana. That was the highest percentage of support since Gallop started polling on the issue in 1969.
Indiana’s two Democratic House members, André Carson and Peter J. Visclosky, voted in favor of the proposal. Republicans James Baird, Jim Banks, Trey Hollingsworth, Greg Pence and Jackie Walorski voted against it. Republicans Larry Bucshon and Susan Brooks did not cast a vote Friday.
