The issue of marijuana legalization won\u2019t be be taken up by Rhode Island lawmakers until this summer or fall, a top lawmaker said this week.<\/p>\n
The latest piece of cannabis reform legislation was filed<\/a> just two weeks ago. Upon its introduction, sources familiar with the situation told Marijuana Moment that because time is running out before lawmakers typically break for the summer after completing the budget, they expected the legislature to reconvene in September to tackle the issue.<\/p>\n Now, House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D) is confirming that\u2019s a possibility.<\/p>\n \u201cMarijuana legalization will not be decided until after the budget is adopted this month,\u201d Shekarchi told WPRI-TV<\/a> on Wednesday. \u201cIt is possible we will return sometime in the summer or fall.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Scott Slater (D) is the sponsor of the newest legalization bill, which is separate from reform proposals that have been filed by the governor and Senate leaders. The speaker said \u201cout of respect for [Slater\u2019s] hard work on this issue, we will be holding a hearing,\u201d though that has not yet been scheduled.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no consensus yet on the very different proposals from Rep. Slater, the Senate and the governor, and many other advocates have also weighed in with their ideas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Gov. Daniel McKee (D) also weighed in on the legalization debate during a briefing last week, saying that he\u2019s \u201cvery comfortable\u201d with the proposal his office put forward in March as part of his budget request. That said, he raised questions about whether any of the competing proposals can advance within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI know conversations are going on right now, but you\u2019re seeing multiple versions develop very late in the session, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if this is something that gets carried over maybe to a fall session,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is one that I\u2019m very comfortable in waiting for it to work itself out\u2014and we are engaged in those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor also dodged a question on whether he would support a home grow provision in legalization legislation, saying he\u2019s \u201cgoing to not answer that question only because I don\u2019t know enough about the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I do know is that we put together a good bill in our budget that provides good regulations, as well as entrepreneurship and creates economic opportunity for many people,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n Pro-legalization Sen. Josh Miller (D) told WPRI that he thinks \u201cwe should act sooner rather than later before we end up with a marketplace that is based in Rhode Island on no revenue to Rhode Island, all the legal cannabis is through Connecticut and Massachusetts or our black market, which would be worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n Connecticut lawmakers are expected to take up marijuana legalization during a special session<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n In Rhode Island, Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey (D) told the TV station that, unlike Slater and the governor, he doesn\u2019t want to have the market regulated through the state Department of Business Regulation; rather, he feels it\u2019s important to \u201chave a separate commission in one form or another.\u201d<\/p>\n But Slater said he doesn\u2019t \u201cthink Massachusetts\u2019 experience with the Cannabis Control Commission has been really that great. Why create another level of bureaucracy?\u201d<\/p>\n Shekarchi also recently told Democratic colleagues in a closed-door caucus session that legalization will not be a part of the state budget that legislators still intend to pass this month, according<\/a> to The Providence Journal.<\/p>\n Slater\u2019s legalization measure contains similar policies to tax and regulate cannabis for adult use, but in some respects it seems to contain a greater focus on addressing social equity than the other measures\u2014even if it doesn\u2019t contain everything advocates want.<\/p>\n Under the new bill, adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to one ounce of marijuana in public. The could also grow up to six cannabis plants at home, with a maximum of 12 plants allowed in residences where more than one adult lives.<\/p>\n Unlike the governor\u2019s measure and the one filed by Senate leaders, Slater\u2019s proposal calls for automatic expungements for people with prior cannabis convictions.<\/p>\n As lawmakers have worked to pass a budget, there have been outstanding questions about whether there\u2019s sufficient support for legalization. Shekarchi has been relatively quiet on cannabis reform, so his comments on tackling the issue as early as this summer are notable.<\/p>\n The speaker said recently that he views legalization as \u201cinevitable,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0but he\u00a0told<\/a> Politico that there are \u201cmany pressing matters before us\u201d and he\u2019s not sure if the chamber will have time to consider the cannabis measure.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s legalization plan, which was unveiled in March as part of his budget proposal<\/a>, would also allow commercial cannabis sales to adults 21 and older. It was\u00a0considered before a House panel last month<\/a>\u00a0but was not acted on.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Senate leaders\u00a0introduced their own legalization bill days before the governor\u2019s announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the Senate side, both measures were\u00a0heard in a joint committee hearing in early April<\/a>\u00a0but they were not voted on, and they\u2019ve remained in a holding pattern since.<\/p>\n Both the governor and the leaders\u2019 legalization plans are notably different than the proposal that former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) had included in her budget last year. Prior to\u00a0leaving office to join the Biden administration<\/a>\u00a0as commerce secretary, she\u00a0called for legalization through a state-run model<\/a>.<\/p>\n McKee gave initial insights into his perspective on the reform in January, saying that \u201cit\u2019s time that [legalization] happens\u201d and that he\u2019s \u201cmore\u00a0leaning towards an entrepreneurial strategy<\/a>\u00a0there to let that roll that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Shekarchi, meanwhile, has said he\u2019s\u00a0\u201cabsolutely\u201d open to the idea of cannabis legalization<\/a>\u00a0and also leans toward privatization.<\/p>\n Late last year, the Senate Finance Committee\u00a0began preliminary consideration of legalization<\/a>\u00a0in preparation for the 2021 session, with lawmakers generally accepting the reform as an inevitability. \u201cI certainly do think we\u2019ll act on the issue, whether it\u2019s more private or more state,\u201d Sen. Ryan Pearson (D), who now serves as the panel\u2019s chairman, said at the time.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Senate approved a bill in March\u00a0that would allow safe consumption sites<\/a>\u00a0where people could use illicit drugs under medical supervision and receive resources to enter treatment. Harm reduction advocates say this would prevent overdose deaths and help de-stigmatize substance misuse.<\/p>\n The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a hearing in March on legislation that would\u00a0end criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs<\/a>\u00a0and replace them with a $100 fine.<\/p>\n New Texas Group Plans To Put Marijuana Initiatives On Local Ballots After Legislative Disappointments<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Rhode Island Marijuana Legalization Bill Could Be Taken Up In Summer Or Fall, House Speaker Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The issue of marijuana legalization won\u2019t be be taken up by Rhode Island lawmakers until this summer or fall, a top lawmaker said this week. The latest piece of cannabis reform legislation was filed just two weeks ago. Upon its introduction, sources familiar with the situation told Marijuana Moment thatContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48188,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48187\/revisions\/48188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Rhode Island Marijuana Legalization Bill Could Be Taken Up In Summer Or Fall, House Speaker Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"