tax and regulate – 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.

May 2, 2016May 2, 2016

Polls show climate change and cannabis are important to Rhode Island

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Lost in last week’s primary election were some other promising poll numbers for progressives. A Public Policy Polling survey found 3 of 4 Rhode Islanders would be more likely to support a candidate who would drastically decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and a Brown University Taubman Center poll found 55 percent of Rhode Islanders want to legalize recreational marijuana.

Climate change

The PPP poll of 1,179 likely Rhode Island primary voters found that 53 percent of Rhode Islanders were “much more likely” to “vote for a candidate who believes the United States must do all it can to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by embracing measures like solar, wind, and renewable fuels, like biofuels,” and 22 percent “somewhat more likely” to support such a candidate. Only 26 percent of Rhode Islanders don’t want to support a climate champion for elected office with 11 percent “somewhat less likely” to support such a candidate, 7 percent were “much less likely” and 8 percent said it wouldn’t make a difference.

Even a majority of Rhode Island Republicans want to support a climate champion, the PPP poll found. A total of 63 percent of Republicans were more likely to support a candidate who would decrease dependence on fossil fuels, with 37 percent much more likely and 26 percent somewhat more likely. For Republicans, 27 percent were less likely to vote for a candidate who would invest in alternative energy and 10 percent of Democrats.

The PPP survey parsed its climate change question in terms of fossil fuels contributing to terrorism. It asked: “You may have heard about a connection between fossil fuels and terrorism. Even though the US doesn’t buy oil directly from regimes hostile to us and our allies, our demand for oil does drive up world prices, which benefits hostile regimes. Knowing this, would you be much more likely, somewhat more likely, somewhat less likely, or much less likely to vote for a candidate who believes the United States must do all it can to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by embracing measures like solar, wind, and renewable fuels, like biofuels?”

Cannabis

The Brown poll posed a more straight-forward question about marijuana. “Thinking beyond medical marijuana, do you support or oppose changing the law in Rhode Island to regulate and tax the use of marijuana, similarly to alcohol,” it asked.

Much of Rhode Island does, with 55 percent answering yes. 21 percent strongly support taxing and regulating cannabis and another 34 percent support it. Only 4 percent were neutral, 24 percent oppose the idea and 12 percent strongly oppose ending prohibition. 5 percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer.

Young Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly want marijuana to be legal, with 72 percent of people age 18 to 44 supporting the idea. Older Rhode Islanders were evenly split with 42.9 percent supporting legalization and 42.1 percent opposed. 56.3 percent of people age 45 to 64 support it and 37.7 percent are opposed.

The poll showed people were more likely to support regulating cannabis like alcohol the more education and income they had.

It also showed that white people were both more likely to support and oppose legalization than black people. 55 percent of white people polled said they support legalization and 36 percent were opposed compared with 50 percent of black respondents who support it and 30 percent who are opposed. Conversely black respondents were more than twice as likely as whites to either refuse to answer or remain neutral.

March 6, 2015March 8, 2015

Legislators say it’s time to tax and regulate marijuana

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Representative Scott Slater introduced a bill (H5777) in the RI House of Representatives yesterday to tax and regulate marijuana. Senator Josh Miller introduced identical legislation in the RI Senate. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, both legislators were optimistic that this might be the year the legislation passes.

Though a pair of cranks attempted to hijack the press conference by insisting that the speakers use the word “cannabis” instead of “marijuana,” Jared Moffat, executive director of Regulate Rhode Island, a coalition of groups in support of marijuana regulation, showed remarkable poise and kept the presentation on track.

Representative Slater said that Colorado, the first state to tax and regulate marijuana, “has one of the fastest going economies in the country.” Money spent on legal marijuana products is money denied to organized crime, says Slater, who asked, “Do we allow criminals to control the market? Or do we want the sales to be regulated and taxed?”

Senator Miller cited justice, public safety and revenue issues as reasons for a growth in support for the idea. Many more groups have joined the call for regulation, and the governor, the Senate president and the speaker of the House have all said that they are open to considering such an idea.

Dan Harrop, the recent Republican candidate for mayor of Providence, was to speak at the press conference, but an auto accident, in which Harrop was unharmed, prevented his attendance. Instead Dr. James Crowley spoke about the current laws regarding marijuana prohibition as being “fundamentally wrong, and a tremendous waste of resources.”

Crowley also spoke of the “first mover advantage.” The first state in New England to tax and regulate marijuana, Crowley maintains, will have early and sustainable marketing advantages that should last even as other states follow suit. Massachusetts activists have already managed to get legislation onto the ballot, and Rhode Island has “a small window of opportunity” if we want to be first, and reap the financial rewards.

Senator Miller says that a majority of Rhode Islanders are in favor of taxing and regulating marijuana, saying, “I think this is the year to do that.”

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.

June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

The time was now for marijuana reform

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There is little doubt that that Rhode Island will one day regulate marijuana like alcohol. The political winds are just too strong. The nation supports it. And we are a solid blue state. Even among the few Republicans, Ron Paul scored better here than he did in all but two other primaries. The real question for marijuana reform is not if but when.

Sadly, it looks like the tax and regulate bill will not move this legislative session.

One of the most common arguments I have heard for delaying a move to sensible marijuana regulation is that we need to wait to see how decriminalization gets implemented here in Rhode Island and to see how legalization works out in Washington and Colorado. I find that attitude shortsighted and slightly heartless.

The crises caused by the drug war are very real and very immediate. While decriminalization is a sensible step that eases the pain, it does little to alleviate the damage done by the black market. Under decriminalization, we continue to subsidize the largest organized crime operation on the planet, the Mexican drug cartels. We may not consider the slaughter south of the border to be a major concern, but I assure you, few things matter more to the people of Mexico. And if we ever hope to secure our borders, we cannot continue to subsidize the gangs that make our southern border such a lawless place.

The effects are felt at home as well. Marijuana money fuels gang violence on our streets, too. It still absorbs severely limited police resources. And most importantly, marijuana continues to be used without any regulation whatsoever.

This means there are no controls on purity or additives. I have had many friends who have inadvertently and unwillingly ingested cocaine, tobacco, and other dangerous drugs because they were secretly mixed with marijuana.

This means there is no labeling of potency. Marijuana users have relatively little idea how large the dose they are ingesting is, making safe and responsible use much more difficult.

This means there is no restriction on youth access. Drug dealers do not card their clients.

Most of the many sensible regulations in this bill would be impossible without a legal framework to operate under.

A second reason not to delay moving to a regulated marijuana regime is economic. Many of the jobs in the East Coast marijuana industry will be located in the first state that allows those jobs in. If we are the first adopters, we will maintain an advantage in this industry for decades. And I hardly need to tell you how desperately we need jobs. It does not help to delay them.

Nor do I need to tell you how urgently the revenue in this bill is needed to address the fiscal problems plaguing our state.

We must act now to end the black market. We must act now to create jobs. We must act now to help mend our fiscal mess. For once, Rhode Island should take the lead on something good.

May 20, 2014May 20, 2014

Legalizing marijuana enjoys ‘tripartisan’ support

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Bipartisan support can be hard to come by in modern politics. Not for legalizing marijuana in Rhode Island though, which activists say enjoys “tripartisan support.”

Regulate RI says Democratic, Republican and Libertarian party leaders will all speak today (3pm) at the State House rotunda to call on the legislature to make Rhode Island the third state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

The Republican in the group is Providence mayoral candidate Dan Harrop, who is also chairman of the divisive right wing think tank RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity. Their policy director, Justin Katz, is opposed. Like marriage equality, legalizing marijuana enjoys more popularity among the Republicans than with Democratic leadership. House Minority Leader Brian Newberry is a co-sponsor of the so-called tax and regulate bill.

The Libertarians include Mike Rollins, chairman of the local Libertarian Party and Richard Ford, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Democrats include from Edith Ajello, the progressive East Side state representative who sponsored the bill, Pat Smith, a Barrington resident who is very active with the RI Progressive Democrats, and Kristina Fox, former president of the Young Democrats of RI who now works for Providence mayoral hopeful Jorge Elorza. Click here to listen to more Democrats (Gov Chafee, Rep Frank Ferri and Senator Josh Miller) talk about legalization.

A recent analysis shows legalization would mean between $20 and $80 million in additional revenue for Rhode Island and the Providence NAACP, and other social justice advocates, support legalization because pot prohibition has unfairly targeted poor and minority communities. A poll found legalization is popular with the average Rhode Islander too, with 53 percent in support. But pundits believe there is little political will to take up the legislation this session because it’s an election year.

April 9, 2014April 9, 2014

Legalizing marijuana could mean $82 million in annual revenue for RI

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Legalizing marijuana in Rhode Island would generate $21.5 to $82 million in new tax revenue, according to a new report from OpenDoorsRI a group that works with formerly incarcerated people in Rhode Island.

“Resulting taxes would generate $7.6 to $21 million for alcohol and drug abuse treatment and education, $10.5 to $50 million for the general fund, and $1.9 to $5.2 million for medical marijuana research,” according to a press release with the new report.

Read the full report here.

The two estimates are based on current marijuana use which is difficult to monitor accurately because it is unregulated. The report assumes .55 percent of American pot users live in Rhode Island* and use between 1 and 3 grams of marijuana weekly and pay $292 to $375 an ounce.

The report says Rhode Islanders who grow their own pot will not be taxed, according to the current bills before the General Assembly.

The new report indicates cost savings on criminal prosecutions would be less dramatic, estimating a savings of about $100,000. “While the collective financial savings are not huge, this legislation will free up important bed space, police time, and prosecution and judiciary time that is currently spent prosecuting these cases every year,” it says.

Far greater are what the report calls the “human costs” of keeping marijuana illegal. It uses the real-life story of Providence native Josh Giorgi, who was arrested for selling pot while a student at URI in 2006.

Josh Giorgi was a freshman at University of Rhode Island studying wildlife conservation when he was arrested for marijuana delivery in an undercover operation in 2006. The sting resulted in the arrests of nine individuals for drug delivery charges, but Giorgi was one of only two that ended up with a prison sentence. Giorgi served 13 months in prison in both the training school and the Adult Correctional Institute for the charges, and he will be on probation until he is 28. Giorgi, a Federal Hill native, says he was dealing marijuana on a small scale to help pay his tuition. He was never arrested for anything else prior to or since that conviction.

After release, he says he applied to jobs and apprenticeships everywhere but most places would not take him because of his record. He started working in a local grocery store that did not do background checks. He continued to work hard and find more skilled employment, and for the last three and a half years, he has worked for an international manufacturing company with offices in Rhode Island, working his way up to logistic coordinator. He owns a house and is now a father.

Despite his hard work and success, he says that because of that one mistake, he was treated like a serious criminal, and he continues to pay a heavy price. He was unable to re-enroll in school and was never able to complete college. Though he hopes to return at some point, his felony record continues to present obstacles.

“I made a mistake, but I am not a criminal,” he says. “I do not want to see anyone else’s life ruined like mine was for selling marijuana, but as long as people use marijuana, they will buy it from someone. So someone will keep going to prison until people that want it have a legal way to buy it.”

*Corrected. An earlier version of this post said .55% of RIers use pot. Jared Moffat of Regulate RI said about 13 percent of Rhode Islanders use marijuana.

March 12, 2014March 12, 2014

Taveras, Pell take wait and see approach on legalizing marijuana

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Two of the Democrats running for governor are taking a wait-and-see what-happens-elsewhere approach to legalizing marijuana in Rhode Island.

In an email to RI Future today, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said, “I am not currently supportive of legalization. I think we need to wait and see what impact such a large change has on states like Colorado and Washington.” He pointed out that he did support last years’ successful effort to decriminalize marijuana, he said, “because it allows us to better focus police resources.”

Somewhat similarly, Clay Pell told WPRI Newsmakers in January, “I think that we need to take a look at what’s happening in Colorado and wait and see what’s happening in Washington. I don’t support taking any particular action at this time.”

Tim White pressed him a bit: “But right now that’s not a straight no. It sounds like you’re leaving the door open a little bit.?”

And Pell responded, “Look, I want the econ of Rhode Island to grow. I’m not sure if that is the place to begin. I’m happy to see what happens in Washington and Colorado…”

I asked Gina Raimondo on Twitter about a month ago but haven’t heard back from her.

Gov Chafee told RI Future earlier in the session he was taking a wait and see approach. After he spoke with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, he said he would evaluate if and when the tax and regulate bill made it to his desk.

March 4, 2014

Jim Vincent, PVD NAACP: legalizing marijuana is a social justice issue

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On the heels of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP calling on Rhode Island to legalize marijuana, Jim Vincent, executive director of the Providence chapter, said he will lobby legislative leaders this session to pass a bill that would tax and regulate rather than criminalize pot.

“I look at it through the prism of social justice,” he said. “How much money we can make, that’s not my issue or my concern. My focus is solely on the disparities in terms of the arrest rates. ”

Vincent said a recent NAACP study shows that African Americans are arrested at 2.5 times the rate that white people are for marijuana offenses. The press release from the New England NAACP said nationally black people are arrested at 3.5 times the rate of white people on pot charges.

You can listen to our entire conversation here:

February 24, 2014February 25, 2014

Chafee now undecided on legalizing marijuana

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Earlier this year Governor Linc Chafee told RI Future that he wanted to wait to see “what other states do” before he considers helping Rhode Island become just the third state in the nation to legalize marijuana. But after a high profile conversation with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper at the National Governors Conference this weekend he seems to be re-evaluating his options.

“The legislation to legalize marijuana is currently winding its way through the General Assembly,” said spokeswoman Faye Zuckerman. “If it were to reach his desk, the Governor would evaluate it at that time.”

Last week, it was learned that Colorado expects $133 million in new revenue after it became the first state (with Washington) to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana. Then Bloomberg News reported on Chafee’s reaction to Hickenlooper’s cautionary advice on legalization.

From Bloomberg:

Colorado’s numbers “opened a lot of eyes,” Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln D. Chaffee, an independent, said in an interview. He said Colorado’s fiscal forecast fostered a discussion about whether to “regulate it and tax it in these tough times.”

Chaffee, who previously served as a Republican U.S. senator, said the ill effects of the long-running fight against drugs should hasten discussion about new approaches worldwide. He said legalization measures have been proposed in Rhode Island and didn’t rule out signing one.

“We’ll see how these bills come out of the legislature,” he said.

February 20, 2014

Colorado pot economy producing new revenue, new research and new residents

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Colorado expects to make $133 million in new revenue this year because of legalized marijuana. This is twice what the state anticipated when it became, along with Washington, the first state in the nation to tax and regulate the giant underground pot economy. Between legal and medicinal marijuana, Colorado expects more than $800 million in sales alone this year.

For comparison, Rhode Island faces a similar-sized budget deficit this year ($149 million) as Colorado expects to reap in new revenue, and the state legislature here is considering legislation that would make us the third state to profit from pot. Rep. Edith Ajello and Senator Josh Miller are sponsoring the bill and they wrote an op/ed about why here.

News of how the marijuana industry is proving to have a very positive effect on Colorado’s economy is starting to sweep the nation. Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported on a 5-year-old who stopped having hundreds of seizures a week when she experimented with a tincture made from marijuana plants grown specifically to prevent seizures.

From the AP, which says the science is still unproven but “more than 100 families have relocated” to Colorado to try the special strand of marijuana grown to accentuate the chemical naturally found in the plant that reduces seizures:

The doctors were out of ideas to help 5-year-old Charlotte Figi.

Suffering from a rare genetic disorder, she had as many as 300 grand mal seizures a week, used a wheelchair, went into repeated cardiac arrest and could barely speak. As a last resort, her mother began calling medical marijuana shops.

Two years later, Charlotte is largely seizure-free and able to walk, talk and feed herself after taking oil infused with a special pot strain. Her recovery has inspired both a name for the strain of marijuana she takes that is bred not to make users high — Charlotte’s Web — and an influx of families with seizure-stricken children to Colorado from states that ban the drug.

The New Hampshire state legislature is also considering legalizing marijuana and the Oregon legislature is debating putting the question to the voters as a ballot initiative.

February 18, 2014

Why legislators think we should tax and regulate marijuana

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Senator Josh Miller, of Cranston, and Rep. Edith Ajello, of the East Side of Providence, double bi-lined this op/ed on why Rhode Island should become the third state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

Check it their op/ed below the video. And here’s Rep. Ajello from three years ago explaining how tax and regulate would work:

A Sensible Marijuana Policy for Rhode Island
By Rep. Edith H. Ajello and Sen. Joshua Miller

Marijuana policy reform is a hot topic these days in Rhode Island and across the country. Over the last three years, we’ve been discussing the issue with constituents, colleagues, opinion leaders and activists on both sides of the issue. Our conversations have led us to two points of agreement:

Our current marijuana policy has failed. For instance, studies indicate an increase in youth marijuana use and that it is easy for them to get it.

Most Rhode Islanders are ready for change.

A survey conducted last month by Public Policy Polling reinforced our conclusions, finding that a solid majority of Rhode Island voters support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, allowing adults over the age of 21 to use it. These results are right in line with several national polls that indicate a rapidly growing majority of Americans agree it is time to make marijuana legal.

Marijuana prohibition has been a failure of tragic proportions. It has failed to prevent use or abuse. It has been a distraction for law enforcement officials who should be focusing elsewhere. Marijuana prohibition has resulted in criminal records for thousands of otherwise law-abiding adults and limited the ability of too many of our young people to access financial aid for higher education. Insidiously, this prohibition has forced marijuana sales into an underground market where more dangerous products such as heroin and cocaine are also offered. Ironically, prohibition ensures that the state has no control over the product. Criminals fight over the profits and our state and municipalities forego millions of dollars of tax revenue.

It is for these reasons that we support regulating and taxing marijuana as we regulate and tax alcohol, and approaching marijuana as a public health matter rather than a criminal justice problem. We can mandate that marijuana be properly tested and labeled so that consumers know what they are getting. We can restrict sales to minors and ensure that those who sell marijuana are asking for proof of age. We can collect tens of millions of dollars in much-needed tax revenue and foster the creation of new businesses and jobs in an emerging industry.

Importantly, we can redirect our drug prevention and treatment resources toward addressing the abuse of more harmful drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin and prescription narcotics. We can urge teens to stay away from marijuana until their brains are fully developed.

Those who wish to maintain our current prohibition laws often claim marijuana is a “gateway drug” that will inevitably lead to the use of other drugs, but studies suggest otherwise. According to a 1999 study commissioned by the White House and performed by the Institute of Medicine, marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse.”

Marijuana’s illegal status creates the gateway. By forcing marijuana consumers into the underground market, we dramatically increase the possibility that they will be exposed to more dangerous substances. Separating marijuana from the illicit drug markets while reducing exposure to more addictive and dangerous substances cannot help but reduce any gateway effect associated with marijuana use. Customers buying a bottle of wine for dinner are not, after all, offered heroin.

Regulating marijuana will take the product out of the hands of criminal enterprises and place it behind counters of legitimate businesses that safely and responsibly sell marijuana – and marijuana only – to adults 21 and older.

Under marijuana prohibition, illicit profits are used to fund violent gangs, illegal gun markets, human trafficking, and other violent trades. Regulating marijuana will allow us to redirect marijuana sales revenue away from the violent criminal market and toward a meaningful solution. A large portion of tax revenue derived from wholesale transactions will fund programs preventing and treating the abuse of alcohol and other substances. According to federal government data, nearly 2.5 percent of Rhode Islanders needed treatment for hard drugs in 2012 but did not receive it. The recent spike in drug overdose deaths is a stark reminder of the need for treatment and education.

Most people recognize that marijuana prohibition’s days are numbered. The question is now “when should we end it?” not “should we?” Like most Rhode Islanders, we believe now is the time and regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol is the answer.

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 13, 2014January 13, 2014

Wingmen: Should Rhode Island legalize pot?

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Justin Katz and I square off over legalizing marijuana on the most recent installment of the 10 News Conference Wingmen Segment. I think it should be legal because it would raise new revenue and create new jobs. I still don’t quite get why Justin Katz doesn’t support this. But you can watch the reasons he cites here:

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