Indiana Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions

Reality Check

There is no Indiana qualifying-conditions list as of May 2026. To "qualify" you would first need an Indiana medical-cannabis statute to exist, an Indiana Department of Health regulatory framework to be built, and a patient registry to be launched. None of these exist. Indiana’s “qualifying conditions” are entirely speculative, tied to whatever bill ultimately passes the General Assembly.

What Indiana Bills Have Typically Proposed

Indiana medical-cannabis bills (HB 1297, prior versions HB 1218, HB 1042, HB 1109, etc.) have generally proposed a relatively narrow conditions list, modeled loosely on Ohio’s 2016 framework or Pennsylvania’s 2016 list. Typical proposed conditions include:

• Cancer (any stage)
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Epilepsy / severe seizure disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Crohn’s disease / ulcerative colitis
• Chronic / intractable pain
• Cachexia / wasting syndrome
• Severe nausea
• Severe muscle spasms
• Terminal illness
• HIV / AIDS
• Glaucoma
• Sickle cell anemia

Different Indiana bills have included different subsets of this list and have varied on whether to allow the Indiana Department of Health to add conditions by rule.

How Neighbors Handle Qualifying Conditions

Indiana has no operational medical-cannabis program. The Indiana Code at IC 35-48-4-11 makes possession of any amount of marijuana a Class B misdemeanor.

Indiana Code — Title 35 Article 48

The Anxiety / Depression Question

Most Indiana proposed bills have excluded anxiety and depression as stand-alone qualifying conditions, mirroring Pennsylvania’s and Ohio’s original lists. PTSD is typically included. Whether anxiety would be added through the catch-all or petition mechanism — if one is included in the final bill — is unknown.

The Autism Question

Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut have added autism spectrum disorder to their lists; Ohio added it in 2023. Indiana proposed bills have been mixed on whether to include it.

The Opioid Use Disorder Question

Nevada and several other states have added opioid use dependence as a qualifying condition. Indiana proposed bills have generally not included it, mirroring the more conservative posture of Pennsylvania, Maryland (catch-all), and Florida.

What Hoosier Patients Do Today

Because there is no Indiana qualifying-conditions list, patients with serious conditions take one of three actual pathways:

1. Cross-border medical card. Patients establish residency or otherwise qualify under a neighboring state’s program (Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky). The card has no legal effect in Indiana, but it authorizes purchases in the issuing state. See cross-border shopping.
2. Hemp-derived intoxicants. Delta-8, Delta-9 (hemp-derived under 0.3% THC by weight), and THCA flower are legally sold in Indiana under the 2018 Farm Bill framework. This is the $637M paradox economy. The November 12, 2026 federal hemp cliff under PL 119-37 will significantly restrict this market. See Delta-8 & the Loophole.
3. Pharmaceutical alternatives. Marinol (synthetic THC, Schedule III) for chemotherapy nausea and HIV/AIDS wasting; Epidiolex (purified CBD, Schedule V) for Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex.

For Research-Backed Information

For evidence-based summaries on how cannabis may affect specific conditions, see TryCannabis.org’s conditions guide. Always consult your treating physician.

Next Steps

• What you can actually do today: see how to apply (no in-state card).
• Costs of cross-border or future Indiana access: see cost & renewal.
• Reciprocity reality: see reciprocity.
• Full deep-dive on the no-program reality: No Indiana Medical Card.