Steve served in Iraq in 2005. After he was injured, the Army gave him morphine and Oxy for his pain. That started a five year addiction to opioids. After cleaning himself up, Steve relapsed, but soon found that medical marijuana helped him deal with his medical issues without the need for opioids. Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposed tax on medical marijuana frightens Steve.

“22 vets commit suicide every day in this country,” said Steve, “but if they overdose on opioids their deaths are called accidental overdoses.”

This evening Steve will be meeting with fellow veterans to try and figure out how best to defeat Raimondo’s proposal.

At a news conference held by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island (ACLU) and the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition, patients said this “sick tax” on medical marijuana would be devastating to them and many other patients and caregivers, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to access the medicine they need to manage their pain and other medical symptoms. The proposed tax, the groups said, has generated a palpable fear in the patient community and should be struck from the proposed budget.

“If these changes become law, I will be effectively forced out of the medical marijuana program,” said Peter Benson, an East Greenwich resident and medical marijuana patient who is paraplegic and uses medical marijuana to control painful and persistent muscle spasms. Benson broke his neck in a bicycle accident when he was 17. He is confined to a wheelchair. Benson called the governor’s tax “an absolutely cruel proposal.”

“Medical marijuana gave me my life back and my relationship with my wife and daughter,” said Benson. Marijuana controls the painful spasms and allows him to hold his daughter in his lap.

According to a fact sheet prepared by the Governor’s office, the new tax would impose a $150 per plant charge on patients lawfully growing marijuana for medical purposes, and a $350 per plant charge for caregivers volunteering their time and energy to grow plants for sick patients. The proposal also reduces the number of plants that patients can grow.

Ellen Smith, from Scituate, is both a medical marijuana patient and a caregiver for five other patients. She said of the proposed tax: “It would add more than $8,000 a year to the cost of growing medicine for my patients. They can’t afford it and neither can I. It is breaking our hearts.”

Smith remembers meeting candidate Raimondo who promised that she supported the medical marijuana law. Voting for Raimondo is a vote she regrets. Under the Governor’s proposal “gifting” the donation of excess marijuana to those who cannot afford to purchase it, will be taken away. Smith does all she can to care for the patients she provides for, and gifts all excess marijuana to the needy. Now she literally fears for her life and the lives of her patients.

“I will not only lose my patients, I will lose my purpose in life,” said Smith, who says the anxiety over this proposal has contributed to her suffering. One night, during a particularly bad breathing episode, she comforted herself that perhaps her death might be used to convince the Governor to change her mind.

The Governor’s fact sheet claims that each marijuana plant is “estimated to generate an average of $17,280 of annual revenue for a caregiver,” and that therefore the tax “amounts to just 2 percent of the value of marijuana produced.” But JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition, noted that patients and caregivers are growing the plants for medical purposes only and make no money from the plants. “These plants produce medicine, not money,” said Leppanen.

Leppanen pointed to the difficulties and costs patients already face in growing marijuana, and said: “This is a draconian proposal based on fictional numbers that undermines the purpose of the medical marijuana program. It will wreak havoc on the lives and health of thousands of Rhode Islanders.”

“If one marijuana plant was worth $17,000 we’d be having this meeting in Hawaii,” said Benson.

A plant big enough to be worth $17,000 would be the size of the State House Holiday Tree, said Leppanen.

Bobby Brady-Cataldo was the second patient in Rhode Island to be legally able to used medical marijuana. All the marijuana she gets to treat her symptoms of MS is gifted. 80 percent of my money goes to my mortgage, she said, and she would not be able to afford medical marijuana otherwise.

The Governor’s proposal means, “people can’t give me medicine that literally saved my life. Is this ignorance or cruelty?” asked Brady-Cataldo. “They’ll give me Vicodin or Oxy, they’ll give me a drug habit, but they won’t help me.”

Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, added: “Having a medical marijuana program means little if the state makes it impossible for all but the wealthy to actually participate in it. The patients and caregivers affected by this proposal grow medical marijuana to ease their symptoms and to help others; they are not running a lucrative drug trade. The state should treat them just as they would any other patient using legal medication. Imagine charging sick patients prescribed codeine a special tax based on the street value of the medication if they illegally sold it. We fervently hope the Governor will take this troubling tax proposal off the table.”

The ACLU has long supported the availability of medical marijuana for patients who could benefit from its use.

Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Richard Licht refused to dismiss a case in which a University of Rhode Island graduate student alleged that she was denied employment due to her status as a medical marijuana user.

The case, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in November of 2014, concerns URI grad student Christine Callaghan, who is working towards a masters’ degree in textiles. Callaghan is also a registered medical marijuana user in order to deal with frequent migraine headaches. In July of last year, Callaghan was slated to begin a paid internship with Darlington Fabrics in Westerly, which she needed to finish her degree. After disclosing her status as a medical marijuana user, the company withdrew her internship.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU argues that Darlington has violated the Hawkins Slater Medical Marijuana Act. Callaghan’s attorney, Carly Beauvais Iafrate, said that because the company had no other reason to withdraw their offer from Callaghan, they are breaking the law.

“Under the Hawkins Slater Medical Marijuana Act, when the General Assembly put that really critical employment language in, which essentially says that no person will be not hired or denied any privileged in employment because of their cardholder status,” she said. “They didn’t then put any language in there that says if someone violates that section, you can sue them. That’s called a private right of action. So what [Darlington’s lawyer] was saying was there’s nothing in the statute that says you can sue anybody over it, and so therefore, you shouldn’t be allowed to.”

Iafrate said the defendant’s argument relies on what is normally written into other disability laws, that lay out penalties for those who violate the law, be it a fine or the right to sue. The Hawkins Slater Medical Marijuana Act lacks that language. In other situations, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has not assigned a remedy and implied a private right of action, but Iafrate says that this case is different from the precedent that has already been set.

“Those other situations are different, because in this statute, the General Assembly said liberally construe this to make sure that the purpose is effectuated, so that it doesn’t become meaningless,” she said. “Think about it. If there’s no remedy, what meaning does it have that they say that no employer can refuse to hire? They can just do it anyway, because there’s no remedy.”

The ACLU is also arguing that by refusing to hire Callaghan, Darlington has discriminated against a disabled person, and is in violation of the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act.

Licht did not approve Darlington’s motion to dismiss for a number of reasons, but his biggest reason dealt with the Medical Marijuana Act, and Darlington’s argument that there is no private right of action, and that they should be allowed to not hire Callaghan to ensure a drug free workplace.

“It’s inconceivable to me that the General Assembly meant to say discriminate against for the use of marijuana, even though you can’t discriminate against them because they hold a card that allows them to use it,” Licht said. “I doubt there are many people who sought out a medical marijuana card that don’t use it.”

While Callaghan is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, Iafrate said she had other reasons to sue as well.

“One of her main purposes, which is why she went to the ACLU, is because this is an important issue, and it needs to be decided. People who are engaging in the medical use of marijuana in the state need to know whether they have employment protection or not. And they need to know whether it’s just words on paper or if it actually means something,” Iafrate said.

In a press release from the ACLU, Callaghan said that she would like companies to treat medical marijuana patients just as they would any other employee who may take medication for a chronic illness.

The next step is for the case to go to summary judgment and for both parties to engage in discovery of evidence and facts. Iafrate said this should happen within the next year.

The East Greenwich Town Council is considering implementing a moratorium on medical marijuana compassion centers at a meeting tonight to which Steve Brown, executive director of the RI ACLU, said “I do not believe municipalities have the authority to essentially halt the implementation of the law at their borders.”

The formal Town Council agenda is broadly worded. It says under new business, “A moratorium on marijuana compassion centers, hookah bars and the growth, sale or distribution of marijuana.” But Council President Michael Isaacs said in an interview that a moratorium is only intended to apply to medical marijuana dispensaries, where patients can legally obtain medical marijuana.

“It was supposed to be narrowly focused,” Isaacs said, noting he hasn’t yet seen the language – but he said he expects the council will vote on it tonight. The Council decided to consider this because of “articles in law review journals about potential zoning conflicts,” he said. “Zoning has to do with the appropriateness of an activity in the community or in a particular part of a community.”

Brown, longtime director of the RI ACLU, said the town can’t decide which state laws it wants to follow. “State law establishes a very detailed scheme for the medical marijuana program and compassion centers,” he said. “It completely undermines state policy as reflected in the Medical Marijuana Act.”

Brown said there exists procedures for municipalities to weigh in if a compassion center applies to locate there, which none have done, according to the state Department of Health.

“Regarding compassion centers,” Brown said, “it is important to note that exclusive jurisdiction is vested in the Department of Health to issue compassion center permits. One of the criteria to be used by the Department is to consider is “the interests of the city or town where the dispensary would be located.” Other than providing that input, a municipality should not be able to then undermine the detailed regulatory analysis the Department has undertaken, in accordance with the law, in making its decision as to whom — and where — to grant a compassion center license.”

Brown said there are different issues if the Council were to try to ban individual care providers who grow medical marijuana.

“The problem is just as acute for medical marijuana users,” Brown said, “They have the right under state law to cultivate medical marijuana for their own use. A municipal attempt to bar medical marijuana users from growing the medicine is a direct attack on the right the Medical Marijuana Act gives them and cannot be lawfully imposed. As a practical matter, a moratorium would have the ironic effect of actually encouraging legitimate medical marijuana users to obtain their marijuana illegally.”

Jared Moffat, director of Regulate RI, a group pushing to tax and regulate marijuana in Rhode Island, echoed Brown’s concerns.

“Banning state-sanctioned compassion centers and licensed caregivers from cultivating marijuana will only reduce access to an important medicine for chronically ill patients and might force more patients to turn to the illicit market,” he said. “Outright prohibition is the worst possible policy for marijuana, and it is disappointing to see East Greenwich potentially going down that road.”

There are two bills pertaining to pot being heard at the State House tonight. One deals with to recreational use, and would make Rhode Island the third state in the nation to legalize marijuana. Read more about that bill here. The other deals with medical use, and would make it harder for patients and their legal caregivers to grow their own.

The medical marijuana restrictions bill, was introduced at the bequest of Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. A Providence Journal article this morning highlights ways in which the medical marijuana program has been exploited by criminals. Kilmartin’s bill, he says in the article, would reduce these criminal exploitations.

It would also have a great impact on the more than 7,000 patients and 3,500 caregivers in the state’s medical marijuana program.

The bill would reduce the number of plants a patient or caregiver could have from 12 to 3. An average indoor marijuana plant yields about a four ounces and takes at least four months to bring to harvest. The bill also includes “freshly harvested wet marijuana” as “usable” medicine, effectively dramatically reducing the amount of pot a patient or grower can have even though it technically raises the legal weight of permissible pot from 2.5 ounces to 5 ounces.

Kilmartin’s bill would require a local zoning inspection of the grow, and allow local police to inspect the site at any time. It also mandates that a potential patient or caregiver be vetted by the FBI rather than state police.

It would also grant landlords “the discretion not to lease or continue to lease to a cardholder who cultivates marijuana in the leased premises.”

Kilmartin revisions to the state’s medical marijuana law would also eliminate the limit on the number of plants state-sanctioned compassion centers can grow. Currently, these three state-sanctioned businesses can grow up to 99 plants.

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health for administratively making it harder for patients to obtain medicinal marijuana by stripping nurse practitioners and physicians assistants from being able to recommend medical cannabis. And today, the Rhode Island Medical Society has joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff, according to a press release from the ACLU.

Here’s the press release:

Adding more weight to the seriousness of the issues involved in the case, the Rhode Island Medical Society (RIMS) has joined as a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit filed earlier this week, challenging the state Department of Health (DOH) for making it more difficult for patients with debilitating medical conditions to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program.

The suit challenges a new DOH policy that no longer allows registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants to certify that a patient has a debilitating medical condition that qualifies him or her for participation in the medical marijuana program. Under the new policy, only certifications signed by physicians are accepted. The new policy was implemented without any public notice or input, and was applied to deny applications that had been pending for months. It reversed a contrary policy that had been in effect for over six years.

The original plaintiffs in the suit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney John Dineen, were the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, the Rhode Island Academy of Physician Assistants, and Peter Nunes, Sr., an individual whose application to participate in the medical marijuana program was denied by the DOH under the new policy. The ACLU and the plaintiffs argue that the new restriction on the number of medical professionals who can make certifications has serious consequences for some patients. The lawsuit raises both procedural and substantive issues with the policy.

Steven R. DeToy, Director of Public and Government Affairs for RIMS, said today: “Patients know that medical offices are busy places, and the last thing we want to do is impede the workflow in those offices, which is the only practical effect the Health Department’s rule would have. Patients’ time with their doctor is precious, as we all know. Doctors need to be able to delegate to other members of the health care team so as to have more time with patients. Physician Assistants and nurse practitioners are critical members of the health care delivery team in many doctors’ offices. This arbitrary change by the Department of Health cannot go unchallenged.”

Talk about a glass-half-empty attitude … while same sex couple still can’t marry in Rhode Island, a bill being considered at the State House would let them get divorced.

It sounds like Newt Gingrich will be campaigning in Rhode Island this month … campaigning for exactly what, we’re not sure, seeing that he’s already been statistically eliminated from the GOP nomination.

With funding still uncertain, the Interagency Council on Homelessness approved a plan that would emphasize housing over shelters. A great step in the right direction.

So long, Neumont University, we hardly knew ya … and it turns out we won’t get to know you any better as the Utah-based for-profit college has decided against opening an Ocean State campus.

While the word was that Gov. Chafee and supporters of medical marijuana in the General Assembly came to an agreement on a bill that would allow cannabis compassion centers to open, no one really knows how much pot they’ll be able to have or grow.

It turns out Senators Ruggerio and Ciccone weren’t the only ones familiar with the State House at the now-infamous arrest in Barrington.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you activism is thankless work … at least it’s not for Frank Beazley, an advocate for the disabled for whom the General Assembly will rename the center for patients with paralysis and other disabilities.

Good news … Providence Business News says leading economic indicators continue to show improvements for the fourth month in a row.

“Whitehouse leads a group of liberal Senate Democrats who hope to fashion a strategy for their party to enact legislation to blunt — or at least cast more light on — the effects of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that has changed the campaign-finance landscape,” reports the john Mulligan, the Projo’s Washington correspondent. “The decision, known as Citizens United, has given rise to a new brand of political action committee — super PACs in campaign parlance — that are not bound by earlier limits on campaign contributions.”

…Speaking of congressional politics, Anthony Gemma, who is still considering challenging David Cicilline in the Democratic primary for the CD1 seat in Congress, pens an op-ed in the Projo today about his plan to create jobs in Rhode Island.

His plan includes making Rhode Island “the center of America’s $125 billion wellness industry; encouraging additional job growth in the rapidly expanding health-care industry,” tax credits for green construction and making a higher education more attainable for the local workforce. It all sounds good, but making it happen is another story.

Here at Rhode Island’s Future, we’re still waiting with baited breath to see if David Segal will also throw his hat into the ring.

…On the state level, Ian Donnis of RINPR, reports that Gov. Chafee “is expected later this week to unveil his long-anticipated bill for aiding municipalities.” Here’s hoping that bill does more than just give mayors a tool to cut pensions, as that really isn’t the core problem for struggling cities and towns – despite the MSM constantly beating that drum.

…Providence Business News has a great comprehensive look at the fits and starts of Rhode Island’s proposed medical marijuana compassion centers. TurnTo10.com, on the other hand, has a story about a patient in the program who was robbed of two ounces of medicine. It’s worth noting that if patients could get their prescriptions filled at a dispensary, it would make it much harder for them to being targeted by the criminal elements associated with cannabis.

…Congrats go out this morning to two RI Future contributors. The first is Paula Hodges, who heads up the Rhode Island offices for Planned Parenthood. GoLocalProv gives her their power player treatment this morning. The other goes to Samuel Howard, one of our most prolific writers, who got a nice compliment from Ted Nesi, WPRI’s blogger-in-chief, in a recent post.

“Basically the compromise sets out stricter guidelines for the compassion centers,” said Rep. Scott Slater, D- Providence, the sponsor of the bill in the House. “One of the major hangups that the governor had and the feds is the profits the compassion centers listed in their applications.”

By limiting the amount of medical cannabis that a compassion center could have on site, lawmakers hope that federal authorities would not have reason to intervene. It would also allow caregivers, or medical marijuana growers, to provide the compassion centers with marijuana they grow. He said it was unclear whether they will be able to sell their product to the compassion centers.

The original medical marijuana compassion center law was approved in 2009, but after a long process to select the three state-approved centers, Governor Chafee then declined to give final approval for the centers after federal authorities threatened to intervene if the compassion centers opened. Medical marijuana is still not recognized by federal law.

Chafee, according to a press release, now seems to be more comfortable with the way the centers would operate. “I look forward to passage of a bill that will avoid federal intervention and bring needed medicinal relief to those who stand to benefit,” he said.

Slater, whose father sponsored the existing law, said the bill will be heard in committee sometime in the next few weeks and then will have to be voted on by both the House and Senate before the compromise bill becomes law.

A meager 24% are opposed to making small amounts of marijuana punishable by only a fine, and apparently would rather pay to imprison someone over a bag of the most common illegal intoxicant, being used by millions of Americans every day.  In contrast, 65% of RI voters would like to see the highly anticipated change in the law, and 58% would be more likely to vote for a politician who supported such a reform (24% said “less likely,” with 18% not sure).  Political gurus: you know the score. Few have ever seen a bill with this much sponsorship and public support that has not become law.  It appears the onus is upon Speaker Gordon Fox to assure all the votes are held, as few individuals other than he could keep this bill from reaching the Governor’s desk.  It remains to be seen how many courageous people take to the hearing, saying things heard last year such as: ‘I’m a wife, a mother, I have a job, pay a mortgage, and I smoke pot.’  H 7092, sponsored by Rep. Edwards, has a list of co-sponsors that makes you search for the opposition.  Minority Leader Newberry?  Sponsor.  Favorite Villain Rep. Palumbo?  Sponsor.  The aroma smells the same in the Senate, with S 2253.  Stay tuned.

The more interesting proposition is one which gained the support of millions of voters in California on the first try: Full Regulation of Marijuana.  Such a bill has gone to a hearing for the past two years; admittedly, the legislation may need to be more detailed, or empower the proper regulatory agency to oversee a several hundred million dollar economic development project that America has never seen.  I could not find such a bill filed yet in the Assembly, but I may have overlooked it.  The poll of voters, by the way, shakes out 52-41% in support.  If this were projected numbers in an election, the front page would call it a “landslide.”  Interestingly, the women are much less enthusiastic about Regulation despite being more supportive than men on the Compassion Centers.  There was no difference in support among party lines, with the Independent/Other having lower support than the two dominant factions.  On this question, the Over 65 crowd was the most out of step with everyone else, as they oppose Regulation 55-36%.  I’m not sure if these numbers would be identical in 10 years, and age reflects our changing opinions, or if the idea of marijuana criminalization will go Bye Bye like Ms. American Pie.

One question that was not asked, that would be of interest, is support for the Good Samaritan Act.  This bill (successful elsewhere) is basically designed to encourage one drug user to save the life of another.  Studies and experience in the medical field has shown that drug overdose, a serious killer in America even when the newspaper is not so explicit, can often be prevented by the most unlikely hero, another user.  However, faced with the fear of prison (and possibly being linked in with their death) the other user will flee rather than call 911 or administer naxalone.  Under this bill, nobody is going to be charged with drug possession if the evidence arises when its a medical response.  Surely a certain percentage of RI voters would rather see people dead or in jail, but I suspect that a vast majority would encourage people in tough times to choose life.

Life, Compassion, and Decriminalization- that is what the people are leaning towards.  Don’t let the fear-mongering media fool you.