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A coalition of 10 civil rights and drug policy reform advocacy groups\u2014including the Rhode Island chapters of the ACLU and NAACP\u2014are demanding that lawmakers move ahead with enacting marijuana legalization in the state before the end of 2021.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the lead sponsors of competing House and Senate legalization bills told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that conversations about working out the differences between their proposals and a separate one proposed by the governor are going well.<\/p>\n
In a statement released by the coalition Yes We Cannabis RI on Tuesday, activists said they are \u201curging lawmakers to reach a deal to equitably legalize cannabis for adults in a special legislative session tentatively slated for this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe war on cannabis has gone on long enough. Tens of thousands of Rhode Island residents, disproportionately people of color, bear the weight of a criminal record for something that is now legal in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. It is time to stop the harm and repair the damage that has been done here in our state. We urge members of the General Assembly to find common ground and move forward with a plan to equitably legalize cannabis in a special legislative session this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D) said in July that while there\u2019s not yet a consensus among legislators and the governor on a deal to legalize marijuana, it\u2019s still a \u201cworkable\u201d issue and would be prioritized<\/a> if negotiations succeed this summer and a special session is convened this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going well,\u201d Senate Health & Human Services Chairman Josh Miller (D), who authored a marijuana legalization bill passed by the Senate in June, told Marijuana Moment of the ongoing negotiations on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Rep. Scott Slater (D), for his part, said \u201cthings are still where they were\u201d prior to the end of session. Lawmakers are \u201ctrying to figure out a reconciliation between my bill<\/a>, the Senate\u2019s and the governor\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Meetings over the summer have been \u201cmostly informal\u201d so far, the representative said. \u201cI think we can get there before next year. It will not be perfect, and I am sure a work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n And while members are \u201cstill trying to work out number of retail [licenses], governance, cultivation and social equity,\u201d Slater said he believes they can reach a deal \u201cbecause at least the majority of leadership agrees that there should be adult recreational cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n In a press release about the new coalition statement, Yes We Cannabis RI<\/a> cited polling that shows a strong majority of Americans favor ending cannabis prohibition and expunging prior marijuana convictions. In addition to NAACP Providence and American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, signatories also include the Marijuana Policy Project, Black Lives Matter RI PAC, Reclaim RI, Rhode Island Cultivator Industry Association, Formerly Incarcerated Union of RI, Garden Time, Protect Families First and Substance Use Policy Education and Recovery PAC.<\/p>\n\n Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D) said in July that he\u2019s not disappointed the House hasn\u2019t advanced legalization legislation<\/a>\u00a0yet and that \u201cwhat we really wanted to do was send it over and have them take a look at it\u201d\u00a0when his chamber passed its cannabis reform measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Shekarchi, for his part, previously said that he feels reform is \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n A key disagreement between the House, Senate and governor\u2019s office concerns who should have regulatory authority over marijuana. Ruggerio was pressed on the issue during a recent interview and said members of his chamber agree that \u201ca separate commission is the way to go with respect to this.\u201d<\/p>\n The House and Gov. Dan McKee (D), on the other hand, want the program to be managed by the state Department of Business Regulation (DBR). Ruggerio noted that \u201cit was difficult to negotiate on a bill when the House bill really didn\u2019t come until late in the session.\u201d<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Mike McCaffrey (D) was also recently asked about provisions related to allowing local municipalities to opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. He said \u201conce the legislation is passed and whatever form is passed in, the communities have an opportunity to opt out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have an opportunity to opt out if the community doesn\u2019t want to participate in it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s their decision\u2014however, they don\u2019t get the funds that would come from the sales in that community.\u201d<\/p>\n The majority leader also noted that neighboring states like Connecticut and Massachusetts have enacted legalization<\/a>, and that adds impetus for the legislature to pursue reform in the state.<\/p>\n Shekarchi, meanwhile, said in July that he doesn\u2019t intend to let regional pressure dictate the timeline for when Rhode Island enacts a policy change. Social equity, licensing fees, labor agreements and home grow provisions are among the outstanding matters that need to be addressed, the speaker said.<\/p>\n The state Senate in June approved a legalization bill from McCaffrey and Miller, which was introduced in March<\/a>. The governor also\u00a0came out with his own legalization proposal<\/a>\u00a0shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n The House Finance Committee\u00a0held a hearing on Slater\u2019s legalization measure<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n The governor, for his part, told reporters that while he backs legalization it is \u201cnot like one of my highest priorities,\u201d adding that \u201cwe\u2019re not in a race with Connecticut or Massachusetts on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think we need to get it right,\u201d he said, pointing to ongoing discussions with the House and Senate.<\/p>\n The House Finance Committee discussed the governor\u2019s proposal to end prohibition\u00a0at an earlier hearing in April<\/a>.<\/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 governor in July signed a historic bill to 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. Rhode Island is the first state to allow the facilities.<\/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 Top Mexican Senator Says Lawmakers Will Again Take Up Marijuana Legalization In New Session<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post NAACP And ACLU Push Rhode Island Lawmakers To Legalize Marijuana By Year\u2019s End<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A coalition of 10 civil rights and drug policy reform advocacy groups\u2014including the Rhode Island chapters of the ACLU and NAACP\u2014are demanding that lawmakers move ahead with enacting marijuana legalization in the state before the end of 2021. Meanwhile, the lead sponsors of competing House and Senate legalization bills toldContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":49709,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49708"}],"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=49708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49710,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49708\/revisions\/49710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: NAACP And ACLU Push Rhode Island Lawmakers To Legalize Marijuana By Year\u2019s End<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"