Rhode Island

Fri
09
Jun

Regulate RI proposes marijuana legalization compromise; speaker’s office says too late this session

Regulate Rhode Island and their legislative allies proposed “incremental legalization” as a compromise for marijuana legalization. But, within minutes Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello's office said legalization legislation is dead for the session and that Mattiello was supporting the study commission bill.

Fri
26
May

Employer loses suit after refusing to hire medical marijuana user for internship

Dive Brief:

  • A Rhode Island Superior Court judge ruled against a local fabrics company after a woman alleged the business refused to hire her for an internship due to her use of medical marijuana, The Providence Journal reports. 
Mon
27
Mar

Rhode Island: Council hears about recreational marijuana

As momentum to legalize recreational marijuana in Rhode Island builds, the town council held a special town meeting Tuesday to look at what can be expected should marijuana for recreational use become legal in the state. 

Joee Lindbeck, assistant attorney general, visited the town hall to share her insight into zoning for marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. 

“I will say this,” Lindbeck began, “your town has been a leader in this state about zoning ordinances of medical marijuana.”

Tue
21
Feb

Rhode Island: From Legalizing Marijuana at the Ballot Box to Legalizing It by Legislation, Lawmakers Look to Cash In

When Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to legalize recreational marijuana, Josh Miller saw this as a sign that his time had finally arrived. 

The Rhode Island state senator has a reputation among colleagues as a cannabis crusader — a battle that, so far, he’s lost. For the last three years, Miller introduced legislation to legalize recreational pot, and for the last three years, his efforts have died in committee hearing rooms.

But now, in a turnaround, some of Miller’s colleagues are signaling an interest in legalized weed — and raking in the tax dollars that come with it.

Tue
14
Feb

Cannabis Legislation 2017: We’re Tracking All Legalization Bills

Most state legislatures reconvene in early January, and by February they’re in full swing, moving some bills forward and killing others in committee. This year 27 state legislatures are considering bills pertaining to cannabis in some form. (Well, okay: 26. Mississippi had two medical marijuana bills, but they’re already dead.) Some states are pushing full adult-use legalization. Others are pulling back on medical legalization measures adopted by voters last November. We’ll keep tracking them as they live and die. Most state legislatures adjourn by early June. Stay tuned.

Mon
23
Jan

This Would Be a First for the Marijuana Industry

The marijuana industry had an incredible 2016, and pro-legalization enthusiasts are hoping that momentum carries over into 2017.

Heading into 2016, there were 23 states that had legalized medical cannabis and four (Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska) that had legalized recreational pot. This in itself was impressive considering that, just two decades prior (1996), California became the first state to legalize any form of marijuana with its Compassionate Use Act for a select few medical patients. In 2017, five additional states wound up legalizing medical cannabis, two of which did so entirely through the legislative process, while residents in four more states (California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada) approved recreational marijuana initiatives.

Fri
13
Jan

Marijuana reforms flood state legislatures

Legislators in more than a dozen states have introduced measures to loosen laws restricting access to or criminalizing marijuana, a rush of legislative activity that supporters hope reflects a newfound willingness by public officials to embrace a trend toward legalization.

The gamut covered by measures introduced in the early days of legislative sessions underscores the patchwork approach to marijuana by states across the country — and the possibility that the different ways states treat marijuana could come to a head at the federal Justice Department, where President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to become attorney general is a staunch opponent of legal pot.

Thu
12
Jan

Rhode Island Lawmakers Want to Legalize Recreational Marijuana

If successful, the effort would make Rhode Island the ninth state to allow recreational pot

Rhode Island lawmakers announced on Wednesday that they will try to legalize pot, again.

For the seventh consecutive year, lawmakers will introduce a bill that would allow adults to consume marijuana recreationally. But advocates are hopeful that the proposal might finally get a vote this time, in part because of the wins weed had in the 2016 election—some right in Rhode Island’s backyard.

Tue
03
Jan

7 States To Watch In 2017 For Marijuana Legalization

Voters in eight states passed marijuana legalization laws following the 2016 presidential election, giving the legalization movement the required momentum for more states across the country to carry out discussions on the decriminalization of cannabis in 2017.

Here are seven states to watch that are gearing up to legalize cannabis in 2017:

Delaware

The recreational legalization of cannabis is expected to be discussed by the state’s officials in early 2017. Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, during a Medical Marijuana Act Oversight Committee meeting in October 2016, said: “It’s time to certainly look at it.”

Tue
06
Dec

United States of Marijuana: These Might Be the Next 5 States to Legalize Weed

Somebody's got to be the first state to free the weed through the legislature.

Four states, including California, the nation’s most populous, voted to legalize marijuana on November 8. That doubles the number of legal states to eight, and more than quadruples the number of people living in legal marijuana states, bringing the number to something around 64 million.

Every one of those states legalized marijuana through the initiative process, but we’re not going to see anymore initiatives on state ballots until 2018, and perhaps 2020. That means that if we are to make more progress on spreading marijuana legalization in the next couple of years, it’s going to have to come at the state house instead of the ballot box.

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