A deal on a bill to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island is finally coming together, legislative leaders said this week.<\/p>\n
While there are still certain outstanding issues to resolve such as which agency should be tasked with regulating the market, lawmakers have made significant progress and have reached compromises on a number of topics, Sen. Josh Miller (D), sponsor of one legalization proposal, said during a panel hosted by Johnson & Wales University.<\/p>\n
Miller warned that he couldn\u2019t be especially specific on details given that negotiations are ongoing, but he expressed optimism that legislators are nearing an agreement.<\/p>\n
One issue that\u2019s nearing consensus concerns the number of marijuana business licenses that could be authorized. Miller\u2019s bill, which was approved by the Senate earlier this year<\/a>, proposed as many as 150 cannabis shops, whereas Gov. Dan McKee\u2019s (D) plan<\/a> called for 25 and Rep. Scott Slater (D) wanted just 15 in his separate House bill.<\/p>\n The senator said that \u201cwe\u2019re probably down to more in the 30, 40 range.\u201d<\/p>\n Expungements is another issue that\u2019s being sorted out. There\u2019s agreement that the social justice component should be included in whatever legislation ultimately passes, but Miller explained that there are some challenges when it comes to processing.<\/p>\n For example, conviction records for possession don\u2019t always specify the amounts, which could complicate any automated expungement procedure to clear the records of people with convictions for offenses made legal under the reform.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is create a mechanism to give the attorney general or the court system a time component\u2014maybe 90 days\u2014to find a quantity component that would disqualify them,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n Negotiators have also reached an agreement to place a temporary moratorium on approving additional cannabis cultivator licenses. Some have protested adding cultivators beyond the existing medical marijuana licensees because they say there\u2019s already a sufficient supply to meet demand in the adult-use market.<\/p>\n These are all positive developments that signal a forthcoming deal, but the sponsor said that negotiators still need to figure out which body should be charged with regulating the adult-use market.<\/p>\n Some like Miller want to set up an independent cannabis commission, whereas others feel the recreational market should be overseen by the state Department of Business Regulation (DBR), which currently regulates Rhode Island\u2019s medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n According to WPRI-TV<\/a>, whose reporter Steph Machado also participated in\u00a0Tuesday\u2019s panel, negotiators are leaning toward a hybrid model, with responsibilities being divided by DBR and a separate commission.<\/p>\n House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D) would be open to a compromise, a spokesperson for the leader told the TV station. Lawmakers have been reviewing regulatory models in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for McKee said that \u201cthe governor supports recreational cannabis and his team has been actively working with our partners in the General Assembly on a bill that is equitable and benefits Rhode Island. The conversations are ongoing and we are hopeful that an agreement can be reached.\u201d<\/p>\n Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D), for his part, said last month that lawmakers are \u201cvery close\u201d to reaching a deal<\/a> on a marijuana legalization bill that could be taken up during a special session this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sent legislation\u2014which we think is a very good piece of legislation\u2014over to the House before we left in June,\u201d the senator said, referring to\u00a0a legalization bill that his chamber approved<\/a>\u00a0in June. \u201cThey are working on that legislation with some of the House people at this point in time.\u201d<\/p>\n The prospects of holding a special session could be bolstered if the legislature decides to take up separate legislation dealing federal with coronavirus relief, Miller said during Wednesday\u2019s panel<\/a>.<\/p>\n What remains to be seen is whether the negotiated legalization bill that\u2019s ultimately produced will satisfy advocates and progressive lawmakers, some of whom have\u00a0rallied behind an agenda for reform<\/a>\u00a0that emphasizes the need for bold social equity provisions.<\/p>\n While each of the competing bills contain components meant to address the harms of marijuana criminalization, the coalition led by Reclaim Rhode Island says they\u2019re insufficient. Advocates and supportive lawmakers have laid out specific items that they want to see incorporated such as setting aside half of cannabis business licenses for communities most impacted by prohibition.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t reverse the harm of the war on drugs, but we can start to repair it by passing automatic expungement and waiving all related fines, fees and court debt,\u201d Rep. Karen Alzate (D), chair of the Rhode Island Legislative Black and Latino Caucus, said last month. \u201cThis bold legalization plan offers us the chance to turn a new leaf for the Ocean State, and it\u2019s time we take it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruggerio, for his part, said he does feel that the legalization bill that was approved in the Senate\u00a0contained \u201cvery strong social justice provisions\u201d and the expungements provision is \u201cas close to automatic as practical.\u201d<\/p>\n Reclaim Rhode Island isn\u2019t the only group pushing lawmakers to expeditiously work to pass legalization. It\u2019s part of a coalition of 10 civil rights and drug policy reform advocacy groups\u2014including the Rhode Island chapters of the ACLU and NAACP\u2014that recently demanded that\u00a0lawmakers move ahead with enacting marijuana reform<\/a>\u00a0in the state before the end of 2021.<\/p>\n Shekarchi 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>\u00a0if negotiations succeed this summer and a special session is convened this fall.<\/p>\n Slater recently told Marijuana Moment that \u201cthings are still where they were\u201d prior to the end of session\u2014but 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 had been \u201cmostly informal,\u201d 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 Ruggerio said in July that he\u2019s\u00a0not 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.<\/p>\n Shekarchi, for his part, previously said that\u00a0he feels reform is \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/a><\/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\u00a0Connecticut 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 House Finance Committee\u00a0held a hearing on Slater\u2019s legalization measure<\/a>\u00a0in June.<\/p>\n The governor previously 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\u00a0signed 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 New York Regulators Move To Let Medical Cannabis Patients Grow Their Own And Give Marijuana Expungements Update<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top Rhode Island Lawmakers Signal That Marijuana Legalization Deal Is Close, With Key Issues Being Agreed Upon<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A deal on a bill to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island is finally coming together, legislative leaders said this week. While there are still certain outstanding issues to resolve such as which agency should be tasked with regulating the market, lawmakers have made significant progress and have reached compromises onContinue 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\/50653"}],"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=50653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50654,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50653\/revisions\/50654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top Rhode Island Lawmakers Signal That Marijuana Legalization Deal Is Close, With Key Issues Being Agreed Upon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"