Rhode Island Lawmakers Start Push to Legalize Marijuana
Welcome to Rhode Island sign at the Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line. (Flickr/Taber Andrew Bain)
PROVIDENCE, RI As the Massachusetts government prepares to implement an initiative to regulate and tax marijuana that was approved by voters in November, lawmakers in Rhode Island are poised to introduce similar legislation.
State Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) and StateRep. Scott Slater (D-Providence) will discuss the proposal at a news conference atthe Rhode Island State House later today. The two sponsors will be joined by members of the Regulate Rhode Island coalition, including co-chairs Andrew Horwitz, a professor and criminal defense attorney, and Dr. James Crowley, past president of the Rhode Island Medical Society.
We have a responsible, fine-tuned bill, and we should pass it this year, said Miller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. This years bill addresses the issues that have been raised by the governor and stakeholders, and it is streamlined to work effectively with the regulatory structure in place for medical marijuana.
Polls of residents in towns across Rhode Island show a majority of voters in our state from Narragansett to Cumberland support this proposal. Our constituents think it is time for lawmakers to pass this legislation, and we should listen to them. If we fail to pass the bill this year, we will lose significant ground to Massachusetts, and Rhode Islanders will simply be able to cross the border to purchase marijuana there.
The Cannabis Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow one mature marijuana plant in an enclosed, locked space.
It would establish the Office of Cannabis Coordination within the executive branch, which would be charged with coordinating among state agencies to establish a tightly regulated system of licensed marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, processing facilities, and testing facilities.
The legislation would also create a 23% excise tax on retail marijuana sales in addition to the standard 7% sales tax.
Eight states have passed laws to regulate and tax cannabis for adult use, Slater said. We have had several years to see how regulation works in Colorado and Washington, and we ...
