RI Progress Report: Marijuana Decriminalization, Brien Defends ALEC, Doherty Distances Self From Norquist

Two legislative committees last night passed a bill that would make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana punishable by a ticket rather than potential jail time. The bills now head the floors of the Senate and the House. Decriminalization of marijuana makes a lot of sense as it would save taxpayers money and resources without any real downsides.

Rep. Jon Brien, a conservative Democrat from Woonsocket who is also a member of ALEC’s board of directors, has a letter to the editor about how the conservative group has been treated in the media as of late. He writes, “The attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council have grown louder over the past few months, and even more so over the past few weeks. The real reason ALEC is under attack is because liberal front groups are attempting to completely silence our organization. This was never about the way we operate or a few pieces of legislation. It’s about the fact that they vehemently disagree with our free-market, limited-government principles.”

We applaud Republican congressional candidate Brendan Doherty’s decision not to sign Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge but suspect it has more to do with running for office in generally-liberal Rhode Island than it does with his ideas on how to fund government.

Telling headline of the day: “Over 50% of Dropouts Come From Just 12 RI Schools”

Equally telling lede: “The Providence schools are not meeting the needs of its English-language learners, even though they make up 15 percent of the district’s 22,000 students.”

Why isn’t the national media covering Florida’s attempts to purge registered voters from its books?

Rest in peace, Doc Watson.