Things are heating up around cannabis legalization in the Ocean State! This Thursday at 4 p.m., the House Finance Committee in the Rhode Island General Assembly will hold a public hearing on several cannabis bills, including Article 11 of Gov. McKee’s budget proposal, which outlines a plan to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults.
We have known for years that marijuana prohibition laws disproportionately harm communities of color. A 2013 ACLU report analyzing FBI arrest data found that black Rhode Islanders were nearly three times more likely to be arrested than whites for marijuana possession from 2001 to 2010.
State Representatives Anastasia Williams and Marcia Ranglin-Vassell have introduced legislation (H 5795, H 6069, H 6070, and H 6073) to address the disparate impacts of marijuana prohibition, and tomorrow afternoon,…
If you live in Rhode Island, take action and contact your state legislators.
Legislative discussions on Gov. Raimondo's proposal to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use were front and center last week at the State House. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees held a joint hearing on Article 20 of the governor's budget bill, which includes provisions to establish a regulatory system for adult-use marijuana sales. The House Finance Committee held its own hearing on…
