Policy discussions about cannabis and intoxicating hemp products are heating up at the federal level and in many states, including Indiana. This report presents educational information and insights for those who are evaluating Indiana's cannabis policies or considering potential alternatives. The authors' goal was not only to assess the cannabis landscape in Indiana but to highlight the areas of uncertainty.

Indiana's Cannabis Landscape

Beau Kilmer, Gregory Midgette, Rosanna Smart, Roland Neil, Elle Wadsworth, Anna Newell, Ben Senator

ResearchPublished Apr 29, 2026

Cover: Indiana's Cannabis Landscape
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Includes Annex I, Evidence of the Effects of Cannabis Legalization; Annex II, Technical Material

Policy discussions about cannabis and intoxicating hemp products are heating up at the federal level and in many states, including Indiana. Since 2024, Indiana state legislators have introduced more than a dozen bills focused on related issues, although none have been signed into law. Favorable public support for legalizing cannabis for medical and adult use among Indiana residents suggests that these policy conversations will continue.

This report presents educational information and insights for those who are evaluating Indiana's cannabis policies or considering potential alternatives. The authors' goal was not only to assess the cannabis policy landscape in Indiana but to highlight the areas of uncertainty. The authors focus on four topics: cannabis policies throughout the country and in Indiana, cannabis use and size of the market in Indiana, cannabis-related criminal justice indicators for Indiana, and other outcomes related to cannabis use in Indiana.

Key Findings

  • Indiana has some of the nation's strictest cannabis laws yet allows the largely unregulated retail sale of hemp-derived delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis — to be sold in grocery stores, gas stations, smoke shops, and other outlets.
  • In addition to the proliferation of hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoids throughout Indiana, more than 40 percent of Indiana residents live within a 50-mile drive of a licensed cannabis dispensary in a neighboring state — and nearly all residents reside within a 100-mile drive of a dispensary.
  • Indiana had more than 13,000 arrests involving cannabis in 2024. The per capita arrest rate for Black residents in Indiana was approximately four times higher than it was for White residents.
  • Approximately 1.3 million Indiana residents ages 12 and older reported using cannabis in the past year. Roughly one-third of these residents reported daily or near-daily use.
  • Although cannabis use among adults in Indiana has steadily increased, the Indiana Youth Survey reports that past-month use among 12th graders dropped nearly in half from 2016 to 2024.
  • Indiana residents spend approximately $1.8 billion (range: $1.2 billion to $2.6 billion) on cannabis each year. Most of the spending is by daily and near-daily users.
  • Uncertainty exists about the extent to which the existing evidence on cannabis legalization will apply to Indiana if it decides to legalize. For example, almost all the existing research is based on states that allowed medical cannabis before legalizing adult use, an important difference in the case of Indiana.

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Kilmer, Beau, Gregory Midgette, Rosanna Smart, Roland Neil, Elle Wadsworth, Anna Newell, and Ben Senator, Indiana's Cannabis Landscape. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4439-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and conducted in the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

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