This whole thing started over two years ago when the General Assembly passed legislation creating compassion centers in Rhode Island. Since then Maine, Vermont, Delaware, Arizona, and New Jersey have all enacted laws allowing for regulated dispensing of medical marijuana. As you may recall, after passage of these laws – or during debate of them – the DOJ through several United States Attorneys fired off scary sounding letters to state officials claiming that they’ll bust up people acting in compliance with these compassionate and popular state laws. A funny thing happened though, all of these states, with the exception of Rhode Island, have moved forward with giving patients the humane option of safe access despite the fact that the laws irk officials in DC.

And now we have the actions of one Gov. Lincoln Chafee. A man who claims to understand that patients need safe access yet steadfastly refuses to allow them that access. A man who refused to hand a confessed killer over to the feds to face the death penalty because it was against Rhode Island’s public policy while at the same time ignoring another public policy decision of the state to allow safe access to medical marijuana because the feds asked him to!

At this point, I’m not sure what to make of all this and what it means for patients in Rhode Island. I do know that it’s outrageous, disappointing and downright mean-spirited. I also know that this is sure to be the beginning of a discussion, not the end.

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The law goes into effect on July 1 and will permit people diagnosed with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, decompensated cirrhosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, PTSD, intractable nausea, severe seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms, wasting syndrome, and severe debilitating pain that has not responded to other treatments or for which other treatments produced serious side effects to possess up to six ounces of marijuana without fear of arrest. Qualified patients will not be able to cultivate their own medicine, but they will be able to obtain medical marijuana from state-licensed compassion centers regulated by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, which will also issue medical marijuana ID cards to patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor. Public use of marijuana and driving under the influence are prohibited.

“There are so many people in Delaware who are suffering unimaginable pain that this will help, and we want to be able to do what we can to provide much-needed relief for those citizens,” said Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, who sponsored the legislation. “I am very grateful that so many of my colleagues were able to look past the myths surrounding marijuana and into the eyes and hearts of those who were crying out for our help. Needless to say, I am profoundly grateful to Gov. Markell for his support of this important legislation.”

“Today is an amazing victory for seriously ill Delaware patients, who have been waiting a very long time for the chance to use the medicine they need without fear,” said Noah Mamber, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, who lobbied and mobilized patients, professionals, and grassroots activists in support of the bill. “SB17 is the most comprehensive, tightly-written medical marijuana bill in the country, and with this vote, the Delaware Legislature proved that compassion is not a red or a blue issue. It’s a human issue.”

Chris McNeely, a Dagsboro National Guard veteran and chronic pain patient with severe wasting syndrome, said, “Until this law was passed, I was afraid to use medical marijuana, even though it helped me in the past, because if I was arrested and put in jail, they could not properly care for me, and I could actually die. I am so happy I will be able to get legal relief soon.”

With this victory, we are well on our way to accomplishing MPP’s goal of 27 medical marijuana states by 2014. Keep up the good work, everybody!

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Sen. Will Espero proposed a bill that would increase the number of plants a patient can personally grow from four to 10. Patients would also be able to designate a caregiver to grow the same amount of plants instead, and each caregiver would be able to take on up to four patients. This bill would also keep patients’ names and grow site locations private, and would allow a person with a qualifying condition to get a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor other than his or her primary care physician.

A bill that would set up state-licenced compassion centers was also introduced by Sen. J. Kalani English. While the licensing fees and taxes for these businesses would be large, this proposal would be the first of its kind to allow dispensaries to provide marijuana to non-Hawaii residents who are legal medical marijuana patients in their home states.

Of course, the police are fighting this tooth and nail, and are trotting out the same old predictable arguments. According to Sen. Espero, Hawaii lawmakers aren’t buying it anymore. And neither is the new governor.

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So why weren’t any applications accepted? Well, because some had too many pages.

Nine applications fell short of the minimum score in the review process and the rest were disqualified for failing to comply with rules for applying.

The health department received eight formal letters of concern. Some letters questioned why an application exceeded the allowable page limit. Others raised issues about zoning requirements, site control, financing issues and residency requirements.

Locals are justifiably outraged, and organized a rally outside the Health Department yesterday to protest the decision.

“This is just horrible,” JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, told the Providence Journal. “This is such a disappointment that I cannot even tell you. I feel like the patients’ welfare is being lost in a bureaucratic haze.”

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Passage of the bill – which is set to become law – marks the fourth time that Rhode Island has passed positive medical marijuana legislation. In fact, tomorrow, the state will take another critical step in expanding its medical marijuana law further when it holds a public hearing for applicants to open the state’s first nonprofit compassion centers, which will provide qualified patients with safe access to their medicine. Rhode Island has approved opening up to three such centers, and the first licenses are expected to be issued in about a month.

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Yesterday, a bill was introduced into Guam’s 15-member legislature that would give qualified patients legal access to medical marijuana and create a system of “compassionate health care centers” to grow and dispense it.

Guam now joins more than a dozen U.S. states that have considered or are considering medical marijuana legislation this year.

It’s still unclear what chances the Guam bill has of passing, but if it were to become law, medical marijuana would then be legal in 14 U.S. states, one federal district (Washington, D.C.) and one U.S. territory.

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Despite being ravaged by cancer, Rep. Slater continued to trek to the legislature this summer to ensure the passage of a bill to add nonprofit dispensaries, or “compassion centers,” to the The Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act. The initial law allowed patients or their caregivers to grow marijuana, but many testified that they risked violence buying their medicine on the streets. Rep. Slater’s heartfelt efforts paid off: His colleagues in the House unanimously voted to override Gov. Carcieri’s veto of the bill, and they then gave him a standing ovation. Three years earlier, they had voted to name the medical marijuana law in his honor. Only Rep. Slater voted against this gesture.

Rep. Slater will be deeply missed. But his legacy will live on. Thanks to his leadership, more than 500 seriously ill patients in Rhode Island can now use their medicine without fearing arrest. And, by the new year, the state will have registered a nonprofit to provide regulated, safe access to their medicine.

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This marks the second time the Rhode Island Legislature has expanded the medical marijuana law it established in 2006, which indicates the law’s successfulness as well as its popularity. It also marks the third time they had to override the governor’s veto in order to pass a medical marijuana law.

Are you governors out there paying attention?

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