regulate ri – RI Future

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016

Mattiello, Paiva Weed prevent vote on legalizing marijuana

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It’s been five years since legislation was introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly to legalize marijuana. Since then Colorado and Washington have shown legalization has negligible effects on teen use and tremendous benefits on taxes. And even as Massachusetts seems poised to beat the Ocean State to the more than $100 million in new revenue all but guaranteed to the first New England state to end prohibition, most Rhode Islanders still don’t even know where their legislators stand on this issue.

That’s because House Speaker Nick Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed haven’t allowed a vote on the five-year-old bill that has proven safe and profitable elsewhere, advocates said at a State House event Thursday.

“We believe that by not allowing a vote the speaker and the Senate president are implicitly endorsing the failed status quo,” said Jared Moffat, an organizer for Regulate Rhode Island, the local group calling attention to marijuana legalization’s potential to increase revenue and freedom while decreasing teen use and mass incarceration.

Regulate Rhode Island delivered a petition with more than 1,300 signatures on it to the legislative leaders. And making the case for legalizing marijuana at a subsequent press event were the doctor and lawyer who co-chair the organization.

Andrew Horwitz is a criminal defense attorney and law professor at Roger Williams Univeristy.

Dr. James Crowley is a former president of the Rhode Island Medical Society.

February 23, 2016

Medical marijuana tax opponents rally at State House

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Opponents of Governor Gina Raimondo‘s proposed tax on medical marijuana gathered outside the State House Tuesday evening to raise awareness about what some have called “an absolutely cruel proposal” to tax medical marijuana.

There is no other proposal like it anywhere in the country, and under Raimondo’s proposal marijuana will be the only medicine taxed in this way. Since the proposal has been inserted into the budget, rather than submitted as a bill, there will be no opportunity for the public to comment on the idea in House or Senate committee meetings so the only route opponents can follow to stop this plan is to pressure their Representatives to remove the item from the budget or refuse to pass the budget if the tax is not removed.

Almost more pernicious than the tax, though, are the other provisions included in what amounts to a complete restructuring of the way medical marijuana is done in our state. Those who grow their own marijuana will be forced to comply with a 75 percent reduction, six plants only, drastically reducing the amount of medicine available to patients.

Caregivers, those who grow marijuana for others may only posses 24 plants.

Opponents, such as Responsible Caregivers of Rhode Island, say this will not allow caregivers to provide an adequate amount of medicine for their patients.

Then there is the financial devastation this plans wreaks upon caregivers. Purchase tags are now required for all plants. $150 per plant for patients who grow their own and $350 for each plant raised by caregivers for others. This makes the cost of farming marijuana prohibitive, and many will not be able to afford this. I earlier talked to a veteran who uses marijuana, legally, to keep himself from becoming re-addicted to opioids.

Since cultivating plants is essentially farming, a loss of a crop from infestation or power loss (marijuana is cultivated with grow lights) could mean that a person’s entire investment and crop will be lost. This will be a loss of money and vital medicine. Further, the process of farming marijuana is not an exact science. If the plants yield extra marijuana the law allows a grower to “gift” the excess to those in need. Raimondo has disallowed gifting in her proposal.

You can see Raimondo’s proposed changes to the law starting on page 194 of her proposed budget here. The reasoning behind this proposal is baffling. It is simply cruelty, and in truth, much damage has already been done to a community that uses medical marijuana to treat terrible illnesses and disabilities.

As Jared Moffat, executive director of Regulate RI said at the rally outside the State house today, rather than tax the medical marijuana that patients need, why not tax the use of recreational marijuana as is being done in Colorado with great success?

February 11, 2016

Tax and regulate recreational marijuana bills introduced

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State Representative Scott Slater will introduce legislation next week that would end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island and replace it with a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol. Senator Josh Miller will enter similar legislation in the Senate. The Senate bill already almost half the Senate as co-signers and Slater has said that in conversation with leadership, Speaker Mattiello has indicated that he is open to the idea.

“Our current policy of marijuana prohibition has created an underground marijuana market that is entirely out of our control,” Slater said. “Most of the problems associated with marijuana stem from its illegal status. Rather than continuing to ignore these problems, let’s adopt a sensible regulatory system that addresses them.”

Slater also said, referencing Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposed tax on medical marijuana, “If Rhode Island wants marijuana to be a source of revenue, it should regulate and tax the hundreds of millions of dollars in adult marijuana sales currently taking place in the underground market. It should not impose onerous fees on seriously ill people who use marijuana for medical purposes, as our governor recently proposed.”

Senator Miller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, issued a statement saying, “We should regulate and tax marijuana in Rhode Island and treat it similarly to how we treat alcohol. In a legal market, products would be tested, labeled, and packaged appropriately, and consumers are protected from the black market where they can be exposed to other more harmful illegal substances. Our legislation would put the illegal marijuana dealers out of business while generating tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue that we can invest in our communities.”

Professor Andrew Horwitz, a criminal defense lawyer and co-chair of Regulate Rhode Island spoke about the importance of decriminalizing marijuana, noting that continued criminalization,”devastates communities of color.”

“Most Rhode Island voters support ending marijuana prohibition and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and the level of support grows every year,” Horwitz said. “We hope this year that legislators will demonstrate leadership on this issue and replace our destructive and wasteful policy of marijuana prohibition with a system that makes more sense.”

Horwitz also spoke briefly about Governor Raimondo’s plan to tax medical marijuana, calling the move, “fundamentally cruel” and an “extraordinarily misguided approach.”

The Marijuana 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 create a tightly regulated system of licensed marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, processing facilities, and testing facilities and direct the Department of Business Regulation to create rules regulating security, labeling, and health and safety requirements. It would also establish wholesale excise taxes at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store, as well as a special sales tax on retail sales to consumers.

Fifty-seven percent of Rhode Island voters support changing state law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, according to a survey conducted in April by Public Policy Polling. Only 35% were opposed.

April 28, 2015April 28, 2015

57 percent of RI favor tax and regulate

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A new poll that shows a solid majority of Rhode Islanders are in favor of taxing and regulating marijuana in ways similar to alcohol.

Jared Moffat, executive director of Regulate RI, a coalition favoring to make Rhode Island the first state in New England to embrace a plan similar to Colorado, said at a press conference that the poll shows “a clear majority” of Rhode Islanders agree that “prohibition is the worst possible policy” and support legislation to tax and regulate.

“The Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act creates a responsible alternative that proactively controls for public health concerns while allowing adults 21 and older the freedom to legally use marijuana if they choose,” said Moffat, “Taking the marijuana market above board will create taxpaying jobs and allow the state to tax the distribution and sale of marijuana.”

Moffat also introduced several new collation partners, including the Green Party, represented by RI Future contributor Greg Gerritt, and Jordan Seaberry representing the Univocal Legislative Minority Advisory Committee.

As an advocate for people of color, said Seaberry, he sees the “devastation” that prohibition wreaks on communities. The failed war on drugs, said Seaberry, results in mass incarceration, prisons and the militarization of the police.

The Reverend Alexander Sharp said that “Drug use is a health and education issue” that is not going to be solved by punishment.

Rebecca Nieves McGoldrick, executive director of Protect Families First, says that prohibition “separates parents from children” and “exposes families to drug war violence.” she pointed out that Rhode Island has “already had a marijuana related homicide” this year, a death that taxing and regulating the product might have prevented.

Greg Gerritt said that the Green Party has supported legalized marijuana for over 30 years. Taxing and regulating marijuana would save money in the state by reducing the prison population, and that the taxes generated would allow the state to build things. As a crop, marijuana has many other uses besides as a narcotic, including clothing, food and machine oil.

The first state to do this in New England will have an advantage over the other states, said Moffat towards the end of the press conference. Rhode Island would reap big benefits in terms of jobs and taxes if we strike first.

March 2, 2015March 3, 2015

Marijuana tax and regulate bill introduced Thursday

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“Prohibiting the cultivation and sale of marijuana to adults has proven to be ineffective, unfair, and costly policy for the state of Rhode Island,” reads the Senate version of a bill that would tax and regulate marijuana in Rhode Island. The House version will be introduced at an event Thursday, 3:15 at the State House.

If passed, the legislation – sponsored in the Senate by Josh Miller of Cranston, and in the House by Scott Slater of Providence – could make Rhode Island the first state legislature to legalize marijuana. Colorado and Washington both legalized pot in 2014 through a referendum, as did Alaska this winter. Vermont is expected to legalize next year and Washington DC recently did so.

Rhode Island leaders have taken a wait-and-see attitude. But the allure of new tax revenue – a report last year estimated the state could generate $20 to $80 million – and the potential new businesses has been hard to ignore. It’s also a social justice issue as ACLU and NAACP leaders have pointed out that minority populations are disproportionately targeted by marijuana arrests and incarcerations.

“Representative Slater and Senator Miller are introducing a well-crafted, well-researched bill that would end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition in our state,” said Jared Moffat, of Regulate RI, the group advocating for passage of the bill. He said it “includes commonsense public health provisions, such as requiring opaque packing for all marijuana products, limiting edible products to one serving of THC, restricting advertising, and mandating the inclusion of safety inserts with important information about responsible consumption with each marijuana product sold.”

The bill would exempt anyone in Rhode Island from being prosecuted under state drugs laws if they possess up to one ounce of marijuana. It would also allow people to grow indoors one mature marijuana plant.

“Smoking marijuana shall be prohibited in all public places,” says the Senate version of the bill, and it would carry a $250 fine for smoking pot in an indoor public place and a $150 fine for smoking pot at an outdoor public place.

Unless given approval from the state Department of Health, it will still be illegal to sell marijuana. Applying for this approval could cost $5,000, according to the bill, and there will be a $10,000 annual permit to sell marijuana. There is no state limit on the number of businesses that could sell marijuana and the Department of Business Regulation is instructed by the bill to consider at least two. Marijuana retailers would have to include a warning label with their product.

There would be two taxes on legal marijuana; a $50 per ounce excise tax – some 40 percent of which would go to drug and alcohol treatment and prevention while another 10 percent would go to law enforcement – and a 10 percent sales tax.

February 9, 2015

Paiva Weed still skeptical on regulating marijuana

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Governor Gina Raimondo and House Speaker Nick Mattiello have both indicated they are open-minded to taxing and regulating marijuana this legislative session. Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, on the other hand, said she remains skeptical.

“I do remain concerned about the potential health affects,” she said before the start of the Senate session on Thursday. “We just recently decriminalized marijuana.”

She said the potential revenue should not be a compelling reason to end marijuana prohibition.

“Revenue is something that always gets people’s attention, she said. “However I believe that the decision to legalize marijuana should be made in conjunction with law enforcement and our health officials and not be revenue driven.”

Jared Moffat, of Regulate Rhode Island, the advocacy group pushing for legalization, said skepticism allows drug dealers to maintain control of the marijuana market.

“We don’t need to ‘wait and see’ any longer to know that prohibition is the worst possible policy for marijuana,” Moffat said. “Prohibition simply ensures that marijuana will be sold in an unregulated, dangerous illicit market. It’s time to take control away from illegal dealers and put marijuana behind the counter of legitimate businesses where it can be taxed, controlled, and regulated.”

Paiva Weed represents Newport (and Jamestown), a city driven by a tourism economy that would certainly see benefits from legal marijuana. But Newport voters recently rejected a local referendum that would have allowed Newport Grand to have table games, thus making it more of a traditional casino. It’s unclear if Newporters are similarly opposed to ending marijuana prohibition as they have been to expanding gambling.

February 2, 2015February 5, 2015

Volunteer at Regulate Rhode Island’s weekly phone banks

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When enough constituents contact their legislators about an important issue, they often listen. To make sure legislators know that Rhode Island is ready to adopt sensible marijuana policies, Regulate Rhode Island is hosting phone banks every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at 143 Prairie Avenue in Providence, RI 02905.

Phone banks help drive calls into the offices of elected officials to urge them to take a stand on an issue. At Regulate Rhode Island phone banks, volunteers talk with constituents in key legislative districts and ask them to let their legislator know that they support regulating marijuana like alcohol. Phone banks are effective and lots of fun!

Regulate Rhode Island will recognize the top volunteer phone bankers for each month starting in February by giving away a free Regulate Rhode Island t-shirt to the person who drives in the most calls!

Regular phone banks will also be taking place on the campuses of University of Rhode Island and Brown University. Check the Regulate Rhode Island calendar to see all the upcoming phone banks. And as always, thank you for supporting sensible marijuana policy reform. Please share this with friends and family so they can be part of the movement, too!

January 29, 2015January 30, 2015

Which New England state will be first to regulate marijuana?

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Four New England states – Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine – are poised to enact measures to regulate marijuana like alcohol in the next two years. The big question is, which state will do it first?

The editorial board at The Providence Journal does not want it to be Lil Rhody.

According to them, adults who responsibly use marijuana should continue to be labeled as lawbreakers because marijuana inexorably leads to the “general rot” of society (“Put pot on hold,” Jan. 6). Fortunately, not all of our newly elected state leaders share The Providence Journal’s antiquated views. Governor Raimondo, for example, recently argued that, “[legalizing marijuana] is absolutely something we should evaluate, because if we think it’s inevitable, and if there’s a way to do it that is properly regulated so people don’t get hurt, then it’s something we should look at.”

Polls show that a majority of Rhode Islanders — and Americans — agree with Governor Raimondo and think it is time to end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition. Last year 29 members in the house of representative and 13 members of the state senate signed onto the Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act. This year the bi-partisan coalition of legislators backing the bill is expected to grow even larger. At committee hearings last year, few legislators expressed staunch opposition to the legislation. Most of the hesitation came from those who suggested that we hold off another year to study the issue.

The “wait and see” argument, however, will be far less effective in 2015. We now have more than a year’s worth of data on Colorado’s experiment with allowing adults to purchase marijuana from tightly regulated, licensed stores. We no longer need to speculate: it is clear that the sky does not fall when you treat marijuana like alcohol. Neutral observers like the New York Times and the Brookings Institute have deemed Colorado’s rollout a success, and even Governor Hickenlooper, who initially opposed Amendment 64 in 2012, recently said this on CBS’s 60 Minutes:

“[A]fter the election [in 2012], if I’d had a magic wand and I could wave the wand, I probably would’ve reversed it and had the initiative fail. But now I look at it…and I think we’ve made a lot of progress…still a lot of work to be done. But I think we might actually create a system that can work.”

We don’t have to go west to know that regulating marijuana works. Here in our own backyard, state-licensed compassion centers, which have provided medical marijuana to registered patients for nearly two years, are running smoothly, giving back to the community, and creating jobs for local residents.

The notion that we should “wait and see” is wrongheaded for many reasons, but it is particularly foolish if the state hopes to reap any economic benefits from regulating and taxing marijuana. Massachusetts is very likely to approve a ballot initiative to make marijuana legal for adults in 2016. If Rhode Island does not get the ball rolling this year, we will lose a tremendous opportunity to attract new businesses to our state and take home a larger share of the economic pie.

A resurrected specter of “reefer madness” is the only thing holding us back. Ignoring the clear scientific evidence that marijuana is much safer than alcohol, opponents of regulating marijuana are forced to rely on fear tactics and sparse anecdotes to make a boogeyman out of marijuana

In truth, however, the vast majority of adults who use marijuana are responsible, tax-paying citizens who ask only that they not be automatically treated as lawbreakers. Just as some adults enjoy the occasional weekend cocktail, or a beer after work, others prefer to relax and socialize with marijuana. Every objective, scientific study has confirmed that marijuana is far less harmful to the individual and society than alcohol. So if we don’t have an issue with adults who responsibly consume alcohol, why should we have a problem with adults who responsibly consume marijuana?

As with any piece of legislation, the ultimate fate of the Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act will depend mostly on how vigorously our allies in the General Assembly push for its passage. Those of us who live in districts with unsupportive legislators must make the case and show them that their constituents support the bill. Those of us who live in districts with supportive legislators must be unrelenting in asking these allies to make the issue a top priority for 2015.

Ultimately, whether Rhode Island becomes the first state to regulate marijuana on the East Coast is up to us. I hope you will join me and the rest of the Regulate Rhode Island coalition in the fight.

January 20, 2015January 21, 2015

Mattiello open-minded on marijuana legalization

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House Speaker Nick Mattiello said he’s keeping an open mind when it comes to legalizing marijuana this legislative session.

“Right now I have no opinion on marijuana other than I know it’s an issue that will come up and we’ll consider it,” he told me on Friday. “I’m not necessarily opposed, I’m not necessarily in favor. I can tell you it’s not an item that is on my agenda right now but I will certainly consider it. I’m sure it will have some benefits, I’m sure it will have some costs.”

Here’s our full conversation on the matter:

Governor Gina Raimondo recently told NBC 10’s Bill Rappleye legalizing marijuana “is absolutely something we should evaluate because if we think it is inevitable and if there is a way to do it that is probably regulated so people don’t get hurt, we should take a look at it.” She said she is currently taking a “wait and see approach” as she said during her campaign.

At approximately 6:30:

News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England

November 19, 2014November 19, 2014

Regulate RI’s marijuana forum packed with information

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“There are more African-American men in prison, jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850,” said Diego Arene-Morley, President of Brown University Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “That’s a statistic that you don’t really ever forget.”

He added, “The federal prison population since 1980 has grown 721% thanks to Reagan’s vision for a war on drugs.”

Arene-Morley was acting as the emcee at a forum on Regulating Marijuana in Rhode Island. It featured two panels of experts and advocates addressing a crowd of over 120 people. With nearly two hours of experts discussing policy and outlining possible courses towards the regulation of sales of marijuana, it was a night jam packed with information.

Representative Scott Slater (D-Prov) spoke about his involvement in passing a law to regulate the recreational use of marijuana as a continuation of the work his father, former Representative Thomas Slater, who was instrumental in passing the laws that allowed for the medical use of marijuana in our state.

Dr. David C. Lewis, MD, founder of Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, gave a short history of drug prohibition laws. He says such laws have always been racist in origin. That’s not to say that there are no dangers in using marijuana. Dr. Lewis maintains that we must balance an understanding of civil liberties with an understanding of the medical information.

Jim Vincent, president of NAACP Providence Branch pointed out that it’s not just communities of color, but all communities that are impacted by these drug laws. Money dedicated to the war on drugs is money not used in our schools or for other public goods. Vincent mentioned the book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (see the suggested reading list below) as being an excellent guide to the cost of such policies on our society.

Elizabeth A. Comery, JD, retired attorney, former Providence police officer and member of LEAP, (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) recalled her days as a police officer in Providence. She joined the force in 1976, and said, “I went on because I really wanted to serve and protect. It may sound naive given what’s happening now but we have to get back to that.”

Comery knows police officers who are “consumed with guilt and regret” over their actions during the drug war. The police routinely targeted communities of color in their drug raids, and their war on drugs almost never penetrated into white or economically advantaged communities. Meanwhile, the clearance rates on homicides has plunged. In Providence, only 43% of homicides have been cleared since 2000.

Mason Tvert, Director of Communications at Marijuana Policy Project and co-director of the 2012 Amendment 64 campaign in Colorado, was asked about the approach most Rhode Island state legislators seem to be taking towards the issue, which is to “wait and see” what happens in Colorado in the wake of regulation there. Tvert compared those legislators to people who find out that they have cancer and wait to see how a friend’s treatment goes before deciding on a course of action for themselves. In adopting this attitude legislators are dodging the question and destroying lives.

Tvert also talked about the jobs marijuana regulation has brought to Colorado. In addition to 18,000 badged employees licensed by the state, there are uncounted thousands of spillover jobs in terms of construction and attendant industries. Tvert feels that responsible regulation that mandates living wages and health care for employees, among other benefits, could mitigate the effects of “Big Marijuana” in the event of nationwide regulation and federal acceptance.

Michelle McKenzie, MPH, public health researcher and advocate for people in recovery from substance dependence, who was part of the second panel, said, “Our society has tasked the criminal justice system with a task it just cannot do. We desperately need drug policy reform.”

Pat Oglesby, JD, MBA, former Chief Tax Counsel, US Senate Finance Committee would prefer that the regulation of marijuana be done under a state monopoly, but he was assured by Senator Josh Miller that such an idea is politically impossible at the Rhode Island State House. Oglesby thinks the taxation of marijuana should be on volume, not cost, as this reduces the chance of losing revenue as market competition drives down the price of marijuana in the future.

As to the possibility of passing marijuana regulation legislation in the near term, Senator Josh Miller is hopeful. Though by Senator Miller’s estimation the majority of State Senators privately believe that regulation is the best answer, most will not publicly endorse the idea for political reasons. Miller only got 13 Senators to publicly support the measure last year.

Miller isn’t all that interested in the financial implications in ending the war on marijuana. “There’s a culture of violence around drug use,” says Miller, “I’m interested in saving lives.” Regulation means that a person purchasing marijuana will be dealing with licensed businessmen, not criminals. Criminals bring access to weapons and harder drugs.

“The gateway,” says Miller, “is the drug dealer, not the drug.”

Dr. Lewis joked that this being Brown University, he couldn’t let the audience go without giving them a reading assignment. He recommended the following:

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society by Carl Hart

Why we need to end the War on Drugs a TED Talk by Ethan Nadelmann

Not to be outdone, Beth Comery added a bit of required reading as well:

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Civil Forfeiture (HBO)

February 13, 2014February 13, 2014

Should we tax and regulate marijuana, or let law enforcement seize and keep revenue?

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Marijuana made it into the local news in two very different ways yesterday.

At the State House, two legislators announced they will again push a bill to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. Meanwhile, far away from the state capital near the Connecticut border, three young men were arrested for growing and selling pot.

Sen Josh Miller and Rep Edith Ajello spoke about how regulation can help keep cannabis away from kids and create revenue for the state and small businesses.

“Marijuana prohibition has been a long-term failure,” Miller said yesterday. “Forcing marijuana into the underground market ensures authorities have no control of the product. Regulating marijuana would allow the product to be sold safely and responsibly by legitimate businesses in appropriate locations.”

Earlier in the week, Rhode Island and Connecticut police seized more than a half million dollars in cash and product from a group of entrepreneurs who had evidently put together a not-so-small agricultural operation in spite of the law.

“In total, the search warrants resulted in the seizure of 248 marijuana plants, over 46 pounds of processed marijuana and $312,678 in United States Currency,” said a press release from the Rhode Island state police.

Miller and Ajello’s bill would put a $50 excise tax on every ounce of wholesale marijuana sold to a state-sanctioned store (much like liquor stores in Rhode Island). That means Rhode Island missed out on more than $30,000 in revenue from this one bust. The bill would also put a 10 percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana. That’s another $30,000 in revenue the state missed out on, assuming the confiscated cash was from the sale of said marijuana.

“Taxing marijuana sales will generate tens of millions of dollars in much-needed tax revenue for the state, a portion of which will be directed towards programs that treat and prevent alcohol and other substance abuse,” Ajello said at yesterday’s State House press conference.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island state police said more than 10 law enforcement agencies worked since January to arrest three people for growing and selling a plant. No guns and no other drugs or contraband was identified. Police did say Rhode Island medical marijuana cards were being misused, but that may be an indication that the three men are willing to comply with the law if the law were to recognize their very profitable business model.

“Marijuana prohibition is a failed policy, and when a law is broken it needs to be fixed,” said Jared Moffatt, of Regulate Rhode Island, the grassroots group working to take pot off the streets and put it onto the tax rolls. “Regulating marijuana is the solution because it will take control away from illegal dealers, and it will improve the Rhode Island economy by generating tax revenue and creating jobs.”

Even though a recent poll shows a majority of Rhode Islanders support legalizing marijuana, pundits have said politicians are unlikely to act on the tax and regulate bill this year because it is an election year.

January 28, 2014

Poll: majority of Rhode Islanders support marijuana legalization

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A majority of Rhode Islanders said the state should legalize marijuana, according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Polling earlier this month January.

Respondents were asked: “In 2012, two states — Colorado and Washington — changed their laws to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, for legal use by adults age 21 and older. Would you support or oppose changing Rhode Island law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, so stores would be licensed to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older?”

53 percent said yes and 41 percent said no. 58 percent of men surveyed thought marijuana should be legal and 46 percent of the women asked thought so. 60 percent of Demcrats who responded to the poll questions thought pot should be made legal and 45 percent of the Republicans did too.

Click on the poll results here.

“Rhode Islanders realize that it’s past time we stop funneling all of the proceeds from marijuana sales to criminals,” said Jared Moffat, executive director of Regulate Rhode Island. “We need to put marijuana in the hands of responsible businesses, creating hundreds of legitimate jobs and tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue.”

The General Assembly is expected to again debate a bill that would legalize and tax marijuana in the Ocean State. Advocates say the move would save the state tens of millions of dollars in costs to prosecute minor drug offenses and the tax revenue would far surpass that and become a new source of economic activity for the struggling state.

But politicians have been reluctant to push for legalization this year, fearing it could be used against them during the upcoming campaign.

“A clear majority of Rhode Islanders realize that marijuana is safer than alcohol and does not contribute to violent and reckless behavior,” said Robert Capecchi, deputy director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We should not be wasting limited law enforcement resources to punish adults who choose to use the less harmful substance. Prohibition is a terribly misguided policy. It is time to make marijuana legal and regulate it like alcohol.”