Debate at Brown today: should marijuana be legal
While local legislators debate marriage equality on Smith Hill today, two national experts on drug policy will be debating another progressive issue on College Hill: legalizing marijuana. Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former Obama adviser on drug policy, squares off against Aaron Houston, the national director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy at 4:30 in the List [...]
Marijuana Advocates Predict RI May Legalize
The Marijuana Policy Project says Rhode Island is likely to be among the next wave of states to legalize marijuana as Colorado and Washington have already done, reports The Nation today. “The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) tells The Nation that the next round of marijuana legalization measures is most likely to come from Alaska, Maine, [...]
Poem: Medical Marijuana Emergencies
While legalizing medical weed They overlook the patient’s need To have some EMTs on hand Who’ve smoked some pot and understand Just what it’s like to get so high You leave the ground and touch the sky So when a 9-1-1 calls in From someone in a reefer spin The Marijuana EMTs Grab their Ray-Bans, [...]
Kennedy, Culpo Are Against Marijuana Legalization
While Rolling Stone magazine may have called us the fourth most likely state to legalize marijuana, two high profile Rhode Islanders are killing the buzz. Former CD1 Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who now lives in Jersey, is lending his political star power to a group called SAM, or Smart Approaches to Marijuana, that will advocate for [...]
Progress Report: Legalized Pot’s Economic Benefits; John Loughlin and the Future of the GOP; Rabies on Prudence
It’s interesting to note that the potential piece of 2013 legislation that has garnered the most media attention since the election isn’t tax equity, marriage equality or pay day lending reform … it’s marijuana legalization. At least it’s the only bill to get front page ProJo coverage so far (though I think that story’s lede [...]
RI Should Lead, Not Follow, On Pot Legalization
Look around and you’ll notice the era of reefer madness is dying a slow death all over the country. Last week, Colorado and Washington became the first two states to to officially legalize it, as Peter Tosh might say. And yesterday Reason.com, somewhat fittingly, broke the story that RI state Rep. Edith Ajello plans to [...]
Punishing Pot Possession With Only a $150 Ticket
Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana could become punishable by a $150 ticket, rather than $500 and potentially jail time, if Governor Chafee signs into law a bill passed by the House and Senate Tuesday. The bill would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot in Rhode Island – as is the case [...]
State House Rally: Stop Paying for Pot Prohibition
There’s a rally Tuesday at the State House, at 3:30, to call attention to marijuana porhibition in Rhode Island. Legislators at the RI State House are considering bills to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana (under 1oz.). Concerned residents across the state are invited to attend a rally to support marijuana decriminalization, a sensible [...]
Public Defender Wants to Legalize Pot
Add Rhode Island Deputy Public Defender Barbara Hurst to the list of people who think the state should decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. In fact, she endorsed legalizing and taxing marijuana too. She sent a letter to the Senate committee considering a bill tonight that would make possession of less than [...]
Decriminalizing Pot Would Save State Money
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine have already decriminalized possession of less than ounce of marijuana, as have a total of 13 states. But don’t take our neighbors’ words for it, a special Rhode Island senate commission on marijuana prohibition found in 2010 that the move would actually save the state money. “Even by conservative estimates,” reads [...]
Committee Considers Legalized Marijuana
Marijuana would be legal, and available at designated stores, if a bill being heard at the State House tonight were to become law. “It would be a brave new world,” said Rep. Edith Ajello, a Providence Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation. “It would be taxed. There would be stores that sold marijuana, legally licensed [...]
Will Rep. Bob Watson’s 2nd Drug Arrest in 9 Months End His Political Career?
The Providence Journal (and everyone else) is reporting that Rep. Bob Watson was arrested again for possession of marijuana early Sunday morning. When the police arrived, they saw a white Volvo sedan in the lot, with its rubber tire missing from the rim on the front driver’s side. The driver’s side door was open and [...]
New Comments