Rhode Island: Lawmakers, Former Cops Voice Support For Marijuana Legalization Bill | Hemp News

Legislators, Former Police Officers, and Health and Legal Experts Voice Support for Bill That Would Regulate and Tax Marijuana Like Alcohol

State legislators, former police officers, and health and legal experts joined representatives of several organizations at a Wednesday news conference to voice their support for a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol in Rhode Island. The House Committee on Judiciary was scheduled to hold a hearing on the measure later Wednesday.

Speakers at the event included the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Edith Ajello (D-Providence); Dr. David Lewis, founder of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University; Professor Andy Horwitz, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Roger Williams University School of Law; and Beth Comery, a former Providence police officer.

A bipartisan group of 29 sponsors, including House Minority Leader Rep. Brian Newberry (R-North Smithfield), is supporting H 7506, the Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act. The bill would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow one mature marijuana plant in an enclosed, locked space.

House Bill 7506 would establish a tightly regulated system of licensed marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, and testing facilities, with no more than 10 total retailers in the state. The bill proposes a wholesale excise tax of up to $50 per ounce of flowers and $10 per ounce of leaves applied at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store, along with a 10 percent sales tax.

The Department of Business Regulation would be charged with establishing rules regulating security, labeling, health, and safety requirements.

A report released last week by OpenDoors estimates that the legislation would generate between $21.5 and $82 million in tax revenue each year.

Fifty-three percent of Rhode Island voters support changing state law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released in January.

“Our current marijuana prohibition policies ensure we have no control over the product and criminal enterprises do,” said Rep. Edith Ajello, sponsor of H 7506. “It’s time for a new approach.

“Our state has demonstrated that it can implement drug policy reforms that are effective and beneficial to all Rhode Islanders,” Rep. Ajello said. “I’m confident that ending the prohibition of marijuana and replacing it with a system of regulation and control would produce similar results.”

“There is no question that strict marijuana regulation is essential for the health and safety of our community,” said Dr. David Lewis, founder of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. “However, using the criminal justice system to do this has neither minimized marijuana’s use nor reduced its harm.

“New authentic public health approaches are both necessary and inevitable,” Dr. Lewis said. “House Bill 7506 provides such rigorous regulation and so deserves our serious consideration.”

“Colorado generated roughly $4 million in new tax revenue in the first two months of regulated adult marijuana sales,” said Robert Capecchi, deputy director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “Plenty of adults in Rhode Island bought marijuana during that same period of time, but the only ones who collected revenue were cartels and other criminal enterprises.

“Marijuana is less toxic than alcohol, it’s less addictive, and it’s less likely to contribute to violence,” Capecchi said. “There is no reason why it cannot be treated that way.”

“It’s time we get honest about how our drug policies affect our families,” said Rebecca McGoldrick, executive director of Protect Families First. “Marijuana prohibition isn’t making our children’s lives better. It’s making them worse.”

“Opponents ask that we ‘wait and see’ how things play out in Colorado and Washington, but we’ve already experimented with marijuana prohibition long enough to know that it is a total failure,” said Beth Comery, former Providence police officer and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). “Reports coming out of Colorado are almost universally positive: fewer pointless arrests for marijuana, new jobs and businesses, and millions of dollars in tax revenue.”

“As a criminal defense lawyer, I’ve seen too many cases of people charged with nonviolent marijuana crimes, leading me and many of my colleagues to conclude that marijuana prohibition is a wasteful and harmful policy,” said Andy Horwitz, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Roger Williams University School of Law. “I urge legislators to give this well-crafted bill the attention and ultimate vote it deserves.”

Photo of Rep. Edith Ajello: GoLocalProv

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Rhode Island: Lawmakers, Former Cops Voice Support For Marijuana Legalization Bill | Hemp News