Rhode Island Will License Medical Marijuana Shops, Overriding Veto

The Rhode Island legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a medical marijuana law Tuesday afternoon by an overwhelming margin, paving the way for state-licensed medical marijuana shops to begin operating. The House voted 68-0 for the pot measure and the senate moved it minutes later by a 35-3 count.

Once the law takes effect, the state will be the first in the nation to have one officially licensed nonprofit center selling marijuana. Over time, the state will license further nonprofit dispensaries.

The bill got a boost in the state after a much publicized incident in which a pot dealer beat up a medical marijuana patient. Proponents of the bill argued that patients shouldn't have to deal with unregulated, unlicensed drug dealers, but deserved a more orderly system.

In March, New Mexico became the first state to grant a state license to a medical marijuana producer.

"We are seeing a historic shift to allowing state-licensed, regulated medical marijuana production and distribution," said Karen O'Keefe of the Marijuana Policy Project after the vote.

Legislators in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are considering similar legislation. Arizona and Maine voters may soon vote on similar initiatives.

The Rhode Island bill's passage was only made possible by President Obama's announcement that his Justice Department would not raid medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they were following the law.

California's dispensaries operate legally in the state but don't have the kind of exclusive state license that the new Rhode Island shop will have.

Jesse Stout, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, which led the charge on the bill, said that state Rep. Tom Slater's announcement Saturday that he would himself begin using medical marijuana to treat his rapidly advancing cancer swayed the General Assembly. Slater, a Democrat, is the bill's sponsor.

The Rhode Island Department of Health will license one nonprofit "compassion center" in 2010 and two more in 2011. They will grow and distribute marijuana and provide it to an unlimited number of patients.

My book, This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America, is now out.

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Comments

[fumes]

''The Rhode Island bill's passage was only made possible by President Obama's announceme­nt..''

GOBAMA!!!

and thanks..

[talkingdog]

Pot should be legal.
The only reason it's not legal is because the alcohol industry wants it so.

[ChristopherAtom]

Paper corporations don't like it so much either.

[senorlou]

And the pharmaceutical industry, and the timber industry, and prison industry, and so on... Lots of big shots standing in the way. Well, it's out of their control now. O Happy Day!

[Z-Liberator]

And the ancient Logging industry, that is destroying our forest in America!

[anthonytaurus]

Honestly, this is the best way to do it for now. The DEA isn't going to touch a state-run facility as if it were a private home. That's out of the question.

It's still baby steps though and not enough in my opinion but better than what Obama has been doing. The problem is that people will still sell marijuana on the streets. So, it doesn't do much to affect crime. You can't have run a legitimate operation along side a black market operation - price competition.

Can you beat the dealer's price is the real question? If they plan on overtaxing it or over-regulating it, that state-run facility may be a massive failure. They're on the right road but it won't mean much if they crash the car. I hope they do it right.

[Agent420]

With taxes and everything, a pack of 20 pre-rolled joints should not be over $20. If they charge more than that, grow your own.

[kindGSL]

That would be a big price drop from what we are paying now in California, and that is only with a sales tax added, about 8.5%. We are paying a big black-market premium.

As soon as it is legal to grow you own without risk, the price will drop. I don't think our big growers want that to happen.

[winningticket]

I'm glad the Rhode Island legislature overrode their medieval governor.

[Z-Liberator]

Down with the Dictator medievil governors!

[Z-Liberator]

sorry, medieval.

[SKEENGE]

Not that it matters but I've been smoking marijuana for 45 years. I don't drink or use any other drugs and I ride my road bike over 125 miles per week. There just isn't a negative effect that I can think of. But what really bothers me is that this childish country of ours is even afraid to grow hemp. W.R. Hearst owned newspapers and he owned lumber companies so he wanted to make sure his paper was derived from trees. Hemp could be the answer to our energy needs as well as providing paper, food, clothing, building material, etc. It's time to grow up!

[senorlou]

I read that an acre of trees and an acre of hemp will yield the same amount of paper. Difference is, it takes decades for the acre of trees to regenerate. Only takes one year for the acre of hemp. You're right about Hearst. I heard he practically owned entire forests.
Rosebud...­.

[Z-Liberator]

Try 6 months to regenerate!

[Agent420]

I have smoked for 39 years and I didn't start until I was 26. Don't bother getting out your calculators, I'm 65. I did make a terrible mistake, I started smoking tobacco, the legal drug, when I was 14. Legal! Do you people realize that lung specialists say that it only takes a lifetime consumption of 365 cigarettes to do permanent damage to your lungs. 365 in your lifetime and that is legal??
Booze was my other monkey on my back, I dump that one 11 years ago. Another legal killer.

Marijuana is so dangerous to the human body that they don't even know what the LD50 for it is. The LD50 is the dose that kills 50% of the people who consume it. All they can say about the LD50 with regard to marijuana is that the LD50 is as least 50,000 times the effective dose. Compare that to Tylenol, for instance.

[kindGSL]

Tylenol almost killed my mom.

[Sarah Katherine]

The DEA can't control cannabis if hemp were allowed, as they can't tell the difference from the air, which is how they are patrolling these days. This is why it's illegal... just one more reason to grow up and legalize our weed!

[kindGSL]

The newspapers still demonize us.

[brandnewstuff]

Texas, Now That is a hoax- Even though many at the State Capital are smoking or did - or use it- just like their children BUT NEVER TELL ANYONE

[MyMindSpray]

Holy crap the Family Guy episode incited some change!

[Agent420]

I'm happy, I have a bag 'o weed.

[Forester]

States Rights!
That's wicked good news!
Too bad for you our skunk is ten times better in CA.
What were we talking about?

[steeev3]

the new kasabian album on weed is really good

[Agent420]

Have you ever heard of an album called, "The Child's Garden of Grass?" It may have only come out in Canada, sometime in the '70's. Funny! You should hear Nixon stoned!

[anthonytaurus]

Oh please. Everyone thinks Cali weed is the best. Good growers grow good weed no matter where they are. Amsterdam, Vancouver, Cali.. so what? Grow your own folks! All you need is the seeds.

[scottfrommodesto]

Tru dat.

[Agent420]

Cali weed is just expensive.

[fumes]

don't forget miracle grow..

and their stock is going to skyrocket lol.

[cannante]

not after i start growin, bro

[PurpleLove08]

It's a nice start but I am ready for citizens to be able to possess and grow their own marijuana for RECREATIONAL use. I probably won't ever smoke it but I want my fellow citizens to be able to decide for themselves. It's the libertarian in me...

[anthonytaurus]

exactly.. but i am not waiting for the govt to give me the ok. always grow your own.

[kindGSL]

It is not recreational you are after, is it freedom of thought, also known as religious freedom or freedom of religion. Google this, THC Ministry.

Our federal prohibition of pot is a fully unconstitutional infringement on our freedom of religion. All we have to do to end it is stand up for our rights. We also need to have a little compassion for our brothers and sisters in jail, and their families.

We are being discriminated against as a group, we should defend ourselves as a group.

[friedfish2718]

It seems all of you agree with the late William F Buckley, arch-conservative, to decriminalize marijuana.
That is good.

[RoseMerry]

Not enough. Anyone over 21 should have the right to grow or purchase for the simple reason that they want it. That is called freedom.

[SlimPickins79]

progress is progress

[Coltrane1234]

Well obviously.­...but this country moves slowly, but the arch of the universe bends towards justice.

[GeorgeP922]

Wow I never thought of that!

Child, it's called judicial and legistlative precedence, a cornerstone of American government process.

This is a HUGE step in that process.

[KOisGod]

but but but it's a gateway drug, our children will be HOOKED I tell you, HOOKED!!

[BlueZoo]

I heard that same old song in the '60s and they're still spewing it today! Gad!

[aristippe]

and people are still smoking because they get hooked. bnut maybe hooked isn't so bad

[WierdWookie]

Oh Please!

[TodPedro]

This is wonderful. I wish Texas would join this common sense!

[KSloan]

LOL...don'­t hold your breath...u­nless it's to exhale.

I'm from Texas and I wish we could be a little more progressiv­e....but it ain't gonna happen.

peace~

[Coltrane1234]

not with that attitude. I'm in Texas as well and you gotta fight son! A medical marijuana bill is in Texas but you have to pressure your reps

[RevRayGreen]

thank you Rhode Island from Iowa