Legalization of pot has support, but unlikely to reach vote

By Tessa Roy
Posted 3/23/17

Though Cranston Senator Arthur Miller and Providence Representative Scott Slater both say they know of colleagues in the House and Senate who would vote to pass their respective bills on marijuana legalization and regulation, House Speaker

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Legalization of pot has support, but unlikely to reach vote

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Though Cranston Senator Arthur Miller and Providence Representative Scott Slater both say they know of colleagues in the House and Senate who would vote to pass their respective bills on marijuana legalization and regulation, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s office says it is unlikely the legislation would get a floor vote in the House.

Larry Berman, a spokesperson for the speaker, said Wednesday that there “doesn’t seem to be a groundswell of support for it.” In addition, whether Governor Gina Raimondo would support the proposed legislation if passed remains to be seen – she has taken an open but cautious stance to marijuana legalization, which her office reiterated on Wednesday. The governor’s office is monitoring this and all legislation currently in the House and Senate, but it’s too early to say which bills will ultimately reach her desk and what actions the administration would take, said the governor’s deputy press secretary Catherine Rolfe.“The Governor has been clear that she is open to legalization of recreational marijuana, but it’s nothing to rush into,” Rolfe said. “Her primary concern is safety and proper regulation – and to that end, Rhode Island should pay close attention to the implementation process across the border in Massachusetts.”

Local leaders and advocates, who say current marijuana policies in the state hurt Rhode Islanders, held a press conference at the State House Tuesday to push support for the Miller and Slater bills that would “establish a system for the regulation and taxation for adult use and cultivation of marijuana.” Miller’s bill S 0420 has Warwick Senators Jeanine Calkin and Michael McCaffrey among its 15 co-sponsors. Slater’s bill H 5555 has Providence Representative Edith Ajello and Cranston Representative Charlene Lima among its 25 cosponsors.

Conversation at Tuesday’s press conference focused largely on a new report released by Regulate Rhode Island entitled “Now is the Time: Why Rhode Island should legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in 2017.” The 14-page report claims prohibition disproportionately harms people of color, that legalization and regulation of marijuana will reduce illicit drug sales, and that taxing marijuana will generate “tens of millions of dollars” in additional revenue annually, among other things.

Andrew Horowitz, a Regulate RI co-chair and assistant dean of the Roger Williams University School of Law, first focused on youth. He claimed “Prohibition has been an absolute, dismal failure in terms of trying to reduce or address marijuana use among our youth” as any high school student in the state “will tell you that marijuana is widely available, much more readily available” than regulated substances like alcohol or tobacco. In addition, Horowitz said decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana has not addressed “pressing social justice issues related to our war on drugs.”

“I continue to see it every day that despite decriminalization, there is significant cause for concern about disproportionate enforcement and punishments that continue to result from our failed marijuana laws,” he said.

In accordance with the social justice elements in arguments for legalization, the Regulate RI report says black Rhode Islanders were arrested for marijuana possession at three times the rate of whites between 2001 and 2010. James Vincent, Regulate RI co-chair and president of the NAACP Providence Branch, emphasized this point.

“The war on drugs has been a war on people, and those people have been people of color like me and the communities that I represent,” he said.

Michelle McKenzie, a public health researcher and addiction recovery advocate, tried to dispel the notion that marijuana is a “gateway drug.” She cited an analysis from the Institute of Medicine, saying there is “no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.” She added mention of a paper from the Journal of American Medical Association, which said states with medical marijuana laws had 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths compared to states without such laws.

Elizabeth Comrey, a former Providence police officer, said time law enforcement spends on marijuana offenses could best be spent on more pressing public safety matters. She discussed a letter from the Governor and Attorney General of Washington state, which said the state’s efforts to regulate the sale of marijuana are succeeding and that “illegal drug trafficking activity is being displaced by a closely regulated marijuana industry that pays hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, which frees up significant law enforcement resources to protect our communities in other more pressing ways.”

Other Rhode Island leaders, including Attorney General Peter Kilmartin who has given presentations to cities and towns on the matter, have favored a slower approach to legalization of marijuana and expressed support for more research or for forming a study commission. Slater said he was disappointed by “misinformation” being put out at other press conferences.

“Not only misinformation, but the thought process to try to slow us down now is to create a study commission, which I am totally against,” Slater said. “I think we’ve studied this issue long and hard and our neighbors are moving forward.”

Others said Kilmartin’s presentations contained inaccurate information and data – the Attorney General’s office, however, is standing by the presentations, saying it wouldn’t publicly present information without ensuring it was properly cited.

“We are very confident that the information we present to cities and towns, as well as to our business community, is 100 percent accurate. The information and data in the presentation are properly cited from legitimate and widely regarded expert sources. And further, we have seen no rebuttal facts disputing information in our presentation,” said Amy Kempe, the Attorney General’s Public Information Officer, via phone on Tuesday. “The purpose of the presentation is to provide cities and towns with information on the current state of marijuana and the impact of a recreational marijuana industry in Rhode Island so municipal leaders can make policy decisions that are in the best interest of their communities.”

The full Regulate Rhode Island report is available online at regulateri.com/report.

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