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Recreational Cannabis Bill Proposed in Rhode Island

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Cannabis BillRhode Islanders live only a “stone’s throw” from legal cannabis a few miles away over the border in Massachusetts. Rhode Island lawmakers have proposed the Cannabis Regulation, Control and Taxation Act which would legalize cannabis for adults over 21. This is the third attempt at legalizing recreational cannabis in Rhode Island, and many local lawmakers in the state believe that the third time is the charm.

The proposed bill was introduced by State Representative Scott Slater (D-Providence) and State Senator Joshua Miller (D-Providence). The provisions would include mandatory product testing and labeling, no advertising, law enforcement funding, limits on THC quantity and mandatory reviews for cannabis products. Local towns and municipalities would have some control over cannabis establishments through voter approval.

Jared Moffat is director of Regulate Rhode Island and former president of Brown’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “On the heels of Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and California, we think this year is a really great opportunity for us to get the bill passed,” Moffat told the Brown Daily Herald.“It’s certainly not a guarantee, but we do have more momentum than we’ve ever had before.” As a student, Moffat helped pass Rhode Island’s cannabis decriminalization bill in 2012. Now is a better time for recreational cannabis due to the Democrats full control over the upper and lower Houses of the Rhode Island General Assembly.

A recent poll conducted by Brown University last April indicated that 55 percent of the state’s likely voters support the legalization of cannabis and only 44 percent oppose it. A year earlier, another poll found that 57 percent of likely voters supported an initiative to legalize cannabis for adults.

Two past attempts at legalizing and regulating recreational cannabis have failed. The duo of Democratic lawmakers believe that this time around, Rhode Island is ready. “We have had several years to see how regulation works in Colorado and Washington… And we have learned important lessons from their experiences,” Rep. Slater recently told TIME. “This legislation represents a sensible policy reform that has been shown to work successfully in other states.” Governor Gina Raimondo has hinted at support after Election day last November, but has not yet supported the new proposed bill.

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