Indiana is notoriously anti-cannabis. And last week, cops in Columbus, Indiana were giddy with excitement after they got their hands on a huge shipment of weed that was delivered to the wrong address.
An Unfortunate Mistake
Whoever mislabeled a box full of weed last week made a huge mistake. Somehow, they sent 10 pounds of herb to one of the nation’s most anti-marijuana states.
Last week, a man in Columbus reportedly received an unexpected package on his doorstep. When he opened the box, he discovered several plastic bags, vacuum-packed full of weed. The bags were neatly organized according to strain.
All told, the box contained 10 pounds of cannabis. Apparently the man who received the package wasn’t too happy about it. He took the box straight to the cops, who, unlike the guy who found the weed, couldn’t have been more excited.
The Columbus Police Department quickly took to social media to continue the bizarre tradition of cheesy cop weed humor. On Facebook, they posted a photo of the weed spread out on a table. The photo was accompanied by a long Christmas-themed post—apparently an attempt at humor.
It described the man receiving the package, opening the box, and discovering the weed. At the end of the post, the cops wrote: “We don’t want to keep something that isn’t ours so if we have your ten pounds of pot and you want to claim it, just swing by and visit us at CPD.”
They took a similar slant on Twitter. They posted the same photo with the caption: “Please help! My name is 10 Pounds of Weed. I am lost and looking for my owner.” It rambled on with a joke inviting the owner of the weed to come to the police station to claim it.
Marijuana and Indiana
Indiana is arguably one of the worst states to mis-ship a box full of weed to. The state is notoriously anti-weed and its anti-cannabis bent is explicitly tied to maintaining the War on Drugs and keeping privately-run prisons full. And, as stats consistently show, anti-weed laws disproportionately target, harm, and imprison people and communities of color.
Notably, the GEO Group has a strong foothold in Indiana. The Florida-based private prison corporation has poured money into Indiana elections for years.
The GEO Group helped fund Mike Pence’s bid for governor. And a short time after taking office, Pence pushed through regressive legislation aimed at keeping GEO’s prisons full.
Pence accomplished this by lowering the felony marijuana possession limit from a half ounce to a third of an ounce. At the same time, Pence also gave GEO a new contract stipulating that Indiana would keep its prisons at least 90 percent full.
To date, these laws remain in place.
As with pretty much everywhere else in the world, there are still tons of Indianans who love weed. In fact, more than 60 percent of folks living in Indiana support legalization.
And as evidenced by the fact that somebody shipped 10 pounds of weed into the state, Indiana clearly has a vibrant illegal market. Unfortunately for weed smokers in Columbus, their underground economy is now 10 pounds short.
