Will Rhode Island Legalize Marijuana?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Rhode Island lawmakers will consider legalizing marijuana during the 2013 legislative, House Judiciary chairperson Edith Ajello (D-1) said Thursday.
During a conference call with reporters, Ajello, who introduced similar legislation last year, said she believes legalizing and taxing marijuana will actually result in reduced use of the drug from minors.
“I want to see the criminal element out of this,” Ajello said. “I think that legalizing and taxing it just as we did with alcohol prohibition is the way to do it.”
Last week, voters in Washington and Colorado approved ballot questions that allowed those states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Robert Capecchi, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the country is at a tipping point when it comes to legalizing pot.
"Last week, Washington and Colorado replaced their states’ prohibitions on marijuana with a system of regulation and taxation,” Capecchi said. “Both measures passed with roughly 55% voting in favor. Gallup found 50% support for making marijuana legal last year, and that support has risen over the years. We are passing the tipping point when it comes to this issue. Unfortunately, lawmakers have traditionally been behind public opinion when it comes to marijuana policy reform. With these thoughtful legislators in at least four states planning on introducing sensible proposals to remove criminal penalties and regulate marijuana in their states, it's clear that ending marijuana prohibition is gaining momentum."
Ajello said she believes she has “a good number of supporters” and noted that House Minority Leader Brian Newberry supported the legislation last year. During the 2012 legislative session, lawmakers voted to decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.
“There’s much broader support among politicians than even I expected,” Ajello said.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dmcgowan@golocalprov.com. Follow him on Twitter: @danmcgowan.
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Comments:
Christopher Lee
2:47am on Friday, November 16, 2012
If legalized, RI will become a pot tourism destination with all of the attendant problems. We have a bad enough problem with DUI alcohol, we do we need more stoned drivers on the road. Don't do it. And then there are the health problems.
You get more of what you legalize. Don't do it.
Max Diesel
8:11am on Friday, November 16, 2012
Why would you set up a market that virtually kicks sand in the federal governments face. When they cut federal funding to the state and begin arresting so-called 'legal' participants, is the state going to pay for their defense? Of all the hot button issues facing this state, is this the one we want to be ahead of the curve on? Does anyone think taxing potheads will save this state?
Molly Jensen
10:49am on Friday, November 16, 2012
I agree with both Christopher and Max. I've contacted ALL state reps and only received 2 responses. The medical marijuana act has enough flaws, allowing pot to be grown, sold and smoked in homes with children. Legalizing marijuana won't make kids less likely to smoke as Rep. Ajello suggests. My 16 year old can buy cigarettes illegally, I'm sure she will get pot as well. It’s hard enough to tell a child smoking pot is bad; I don’t appreciate the State making it harder by contradicting my parental opinion. The future of career day in schools will be “hi, I’m Joe and/or Jane, I’m a drug dealer”. I don’t think it’s fair to allow business owners to become rich by making drug users/addicts of our citizens. I intend on testifying in opposition at the committee hearing on this issue. I urge all others to have your voice heard; contact state reps and join the fight at the state house.
anthony sionni
11:23am on Friday, November 16, 2012
what happens if your caught driving and smoking weed, isn't that like driving drunk? Some people smoke so much that they would be impaired on the road.
Molly Jensen
11:40am on Friday, November 16, 2012
Absolutely Anthony. DUI is under the influence regardless of the substance. The question is how will it be determined? Will the state require blood tests for those suspected of DUI? As far as I know, the current law does NOT force a blood test for any suspected DUI. I do realize that alcohol has a much greater affect on your driving, however, if the state wants to legalize pot it should set legal standards for DUI marijuana as well.
John Bennet
1:29pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
If you all are educated people, then I'm sure you looked at the studies that have shown the marijuana is not as bad as originally claimed. Alcohol and doctor prescribed medications cause more harm than marijuana and they are legal substances. Legalizing marijuana is the way to go and you don't need to regulate too much. Just tax it like cigarettes. I’m glad this is being introduced and the old stereotypes and misconceptions are starting to fade away despite those who still believe them in the previous posts.
The perfect example of the government pushing false information about marijuana is the movie musical “Reefer Madness” which makes fun of the “true and actual” propaganda pushed upon society by the government in 1936 and still to this very day.
There are more and more studies being done that counter and disprove original health studies conducted and/or sponsored by the government whose main intent was to make marijuana look bad; Google them. This is change people. It is what you wanted. You voted for Obama after all.
pearl fanch
2:21pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
50% of the state smokes pot already. Does it really matter if they legalize it?
Jillian Galloway
2:29pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Christopher Lee - "You get more of what you legalize"
Oh come on Chris, surely you've seen the research finding that teen consumption goes *down* in places that legalize marijuana? How then can you say that it goes up when what we observe is that it goes down? Are you just making stuff up??
Frank Gary
2:29pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@ Max Diesel. To answer your question, the federal government IS NOT going to prosecute individual participants. It's the state that's going to take the blow, if there is one to be delivered.
@Christopher Lee. What health problems are you even talking about? You don't have to SMOKE cannabis, and even then it lacks the carcinogens of tobacco.
@Molly Jensen. People who would impair their driving ability with toxins are going to do so regardless of what laws are in place. What's wrong with getting high in the first place? I believe propaganda has scared you into thinking the 'getting high' is some sort terribly negative activity.
Jillian Galloway
3:00pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@anthony sionni. Being high is not the same as being drunk - it's much milder, much less debilitating. And the laws covering impaired driving aren't going to change.
Drunk driving is illegal even though alcohol's legal, and stoned driving will remain illegal even though marijuana itself will be legal for adults to buy from licensed stores or to grow themselves.
Jillian Galloway
3:08pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Molly Jensen - Your 16 year old may be able to buy cigarettes today with the help of an adult, but that's a *lot* more difficult than simply buying them off some drug dealer on the street. The same is true of alcohol and marijuana.
When we allow stores to sell legally-grown marijuana to adults at prices low enough to prevent illegal competition, drug dealers' customers will desert them and the whole illegal marijuana trade will collapse. Then teens will have to get adults to help them buy their weed rather than just buying it from drug dealers like they do today.
Christopher Lee
5:29pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Jillian Galloway. Legalize pot and there will be more of it available for purchase, which will drive down the price (law of supply and demand). Lower the price, more people can afford it. More affordable pot will result in more people who can afford to buy it leading to more usage. An example is cocaine. “When powder cocaine was expensive and hard to get, it was found almost exclusively in the circles of the rich, the famous, or the privileged. Only when cocaine was dumped into the country, and a $3 vial of crack could be bought on street corners, did we see cocaine use skyrocket — this time largely among the poor and disadvantaged.” Source: William Bennett, “Mopping Up after the Legalizers,” Page 225.
Thus, you get more pot use if legalized.
@Frank Gary. The advocacy group Drug Watch International points out that drugs are illegal, “because of their intoxicating effect on the brain, damaging impact on the body, adverse impact on behavior, and potential for abuse. Their use threatens the health, welfare, and safety of all people, of users and nonusers alike.” Source: Drug Watch International, “Drug Legalization,” no. 3 in the “Truth and Lies” series (October 1995), Page 1.
I’m not worried about just the user’s health, but the health of everyone around the user. Stoned drivers are impaired drivers, bound to cause avoidable crashes and injuries to innocents.
Nikey Jones
5:35pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
"I agree with both Christopher and Max. I've contacted ALL state reps and only received 2 responses. The medical marijuana act has enough flaws, allowing pot to be grown, sold and smoked in homes with children. Legalizing marijuana won't make kids less likely to smoke as Rep. Ajello suggests. My 16 year old can buy cigarettes illegally, I'm sure she will get pot as well. It’s hard enough to tell a child smoking pot is bad; I don’t appreciate the State making it harder by contradicting my parental opinion. The future of career day in schools will be “hi, I’m Joe and/or Jane, I’m a drug dealer”. I don’t think it’s fair to allow business owners to become rich by making drug users/addicts of our citizens. I intend on testifying in opposition at the committee hearing on this issue. I urge all others to have your voice heard; contact state reps and join the fight at the state house."
Did you know that in the history of human civilization, the only time that marijuana has ever been illegal is within the last 100 years (Nixon supported banning of pot because "all the jews and n******" smoked it). How did people before our time deal with it? It is the parents' responsibility to and choice if they want to allow their children to smoke pot.
Nikey Jones
5:40pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Christopher Lee
I don't see what is wrong with "more pot use". You say it like it's a bad thing. Maybe it could even help the alcoholics switch to something more safe and healthy for your body. If we were talking about cocaine, then I'd see the problem because more cocaine=more deaths. You can't say the same for marijuana.
Anthony Johnson
5:57pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Christopher Lee
"drugs are illegal, “because of their intoxicating effect on the brain, damaging impact on the body, adverse impact on behavior, and potential for abuse""
This describes coffee/caffeine better than it does marijuana
Jillian Galloway
6:28pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Christopher Lee. You're right that price will fall, and this is critical to allow us to undercut the drug dealers and cartels to the point where they can't compete anymore. You'll *never* get rid of these people if you don't eliminate their profits!
However, there are a couple of important things to bear in mind about this:
1. The bulk of the people not consuming marijuana today are refraining from it simply because they have no interest in the stuff. This isn't going to change even when their local supermarket starts selling it alongside the beer and tobacco.
2. Marijuana and alcohol are "substitute goods" - so an increase in marijuana consumption will be accompanied by a corresponding decrease in alcohol consumption. And as alcohol is FAR more harmful and addictive than marijuana, this means that the overall amount of harm and addiction in society will *fall*.
3. While the amount of adult use may increase (corresponding with a fall in the use of alcohol), the amount of teen use can be expected to *fall*. And this is exactly what we've observed in the places that have implemented some form of marijuana legalization and regulation.
The reason for this of course is that under legalization teens will require the assistance of an adult to be able to buy from the stores (the same as tobacco and alcohol today) and while it'd be nice to be able to eliminate this, it's still a LOT more restrictive than what we have today where teens buy directly from drug dealers.
Jillian Galloway
6:37pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Christopher Lee. "drugs are illegal because of their intoxicating effect on the brain, damaging impact on the body, adverse impact on behavior, and potential for abuse".
Seriously? "Drugs are illegal because of their intoxicating effect on the brain"?? What kind of a reason is that for arresting 750,000 people every year?!! That is straight-up stupid!
Classifying marijuana in the same schedule as HEROIN send kids the message that heroin is no more dangerous than pot. This is a very dangerous message for the government to send to our children and one that I do NOT support!
Molly Jensen
7:01pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Jillian Galloway my daughter purchased her cigarettes along with drug paraphernalia (a pipe) at a local convenience store, as do many other teens. Yes, I reported the store, however, what shall we do; create a greater expense by adding some sort of task force? Additionally, the flawed medicinal marijuana laws created by our state made it possible for parents to grow and sell drugs via the home leaving children the ability to “grab the stash”. Now, I realize that’s the parents fault for being irresponsible with placement of “medication” but had they simply NOT be authorized by the state to do so, the problem wouldn’t exists. Prescription drugs should be delivered by a Pharmacist as all others are.
A common thread seems to be “well alcohol is legal and it’s worse than weed” . Was legalizing alcohol a good thing? I agree alcohol can be a more intoxicating substance based on the amount consumed but that doesn’t mean weed is any less of an intoxicating substance; it affects everyone differently. I have a strong feeling those who do not oppose this legislation are in for a rude awaking when it comes to fruition. Thoroughly read the proposal. Legalization won’t prevent drug dealers from selling drugs if anything what will happen is they will all flock here because the state has made the cost of weed so high (taxed the hell out of it) that more people will buy on the black market or they will begin to push the stronger drugs to supplement their loss of income. Cigarettes used to be $1.10. Drug dealers will ALWAYS be drug dealers; they’re not going to go open legit businesses and be taxed by the state and if they do I’m sure they’ll be selling more than just weed. We don’t have the resources to police the actions of “legalized drug dealers”. If people smoke weed, they’re better off doing it the way they are now. Decriminalize it rather than make it legal. If/when it goes legal I can’t wait to see how we deal with DUI and they will. I can see it now…a simple puff on a cigarette is going to get people pulled over for suspicion.
Gregory Martin
8:26pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Molly Jensen
While I can certainly understand all the concerns for the well being of our state and children, there are several logical fallacies in these opposing standpoints. First of all, to even suggest that this "task force" you speak of would constitute a "greater expense" than the combined funding of DEA marijuana enforcement and the incarceration of all non-violent cannabis offenders is flagrantly incorrect. Unfortunately negligent parents will be negligent regardless of what legislative stance our state holds on marijuana. We are tired of paying for DEA raids on it and we are tired of paying to keep all these people locked in cages. To suggest that drug dealers will "flock" to Rhode Island is insane. Do you see a market for homemade illegal alcohol? No, because why would anyone in their right mind buy that when there are high quality products right down the street. If sold like alcohol this would absolutely destroy the black market demand for marijuana. It happened with alcohol and clearly the same would be true with pot.
Samuel Jew
10:22pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
If you want to prevent your minor children from using pot, alcohol, or cigarettes, do so as a parent, but let responsible adults who are not your children make their own decisions.
Christopher Lee
4:51am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
The direction society in general is heading in saddens me. I never thought I'd see the day when pot smokers would rationalize drug use - yes, pot is a drug, not basic nutrition, but a drug - and such rationalization would be accepted by members of the legislature.
Why stop at just pot? Let's legalize everything. This is the direction society is heading anyhow. No religion. No believing in something greater than self. No boundaries to human conduct. Society is in decay.
We have reaped what we have sown. The social science is clear: psycho-social pathologies are epidemic in society. Drug, prescription, and alcohol abuse; promiscuity; crime; psychiatric disorders; high school dropout; divorce; illegitimacy; computer, smart phone, video game, and internet addiction; gambling – all have risen dramatically over the years. The results are destroying the very fabric of our society. And somehow we rationalize our socio-pathologies away. Like smoking pot is a good thing, equivalent to drinking a glass of water. If smoking pot is so good, let children do it!
There is no shame anymore.
I feel sorry for our children for we have failed them. We are passing on a society that is in a sorrowful state.
Nikey Jones
5:03am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
prove that smoking pot is a bad thing christopher. and no we don't let children smoke weed. not even pot heads let their kids do that. marijuana is only damaging for the brain if the user is young and developing their brain. you seem to assume that all marijuana users are irresponsible and unintelligent, or that it makes you stupid. george washington enjoyed smoking marijuana back in his day, and he was able to do his job efficiently and end up being considered the greatest president in our nation's history. thomas jefferson smoked as well. read up on why marijuana was banned in the first place. not because of any scientific reason that's for sure.
Christopher Lee
8:38am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
@Nikey Jones. You proved my point: users rationalize the harmful effects away.
Psychological Effects:
When marijuana enters into the bloodstream, it acts on the brain and nervous system. Marijuana alters perception of reality, distorting the way the users senses work, as well as distorting the users sense of time, space, and self. Even after just one use, marijuana chemicals can be seen in the brain 3 to 6 weeks later and can be detected in a drug screening. Regular use of marijuana can cause a person to use more of the drug to achieve the same effect. At continuous high dosages, some people become dependent on it. When they stop using it, they may experience withdrawal symptoms, such as difficulty sleeping, nervousness, and changes in temperament.
Physical Risks:
Infertility
Induces premature babies
Causes birth defects in unborn children whose mothers use marijuana during pregnancy; several studies also cite genetic birth defects related to the father
Increased heart rate - causing potential cardiac problems for people with heart conditions
Can cause lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, asthma
Affects immune system
Reduces resistance levels to disease and illness
Decrease in sexual pleasure
pearl fanch
10:56am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
I didn't know that pot heads could type.
I guess it's even more widespread than I thought.
Thighrod Magenta
11:49am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Wow, Christopher, that list of effects is so discredited that it's absurd. I don't feel like spending an hour refuting each point, but I can tell you that if you research these "effects" from non-biased sources, you will see that they are almost all totally fictitious.
"Decreases sexual pleasure"??? My goodness, that is rich; I'm surprised that list didn't say "Makes snack foods unappealing".
Just to address the "big one", CANCER:
The largest study of its kind showed that smokers of weed have lower incidence of cancer than non-smokers. That's right, weed PROTECTS FROM CANCER.
Free yourself from the old prejudices my friend. I used to militantly rail against weed myself. I was a fool.
Thighrod Magenta
12:00pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Sorry Christopher, I can't help myself:
Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june272010/marijuana-infants-sc.php
Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection: http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html&ei=TqOnULy9DMSE0QHkxYCwAg&usg=AFQjCNF1z_tZuvTYqvcU97IUWhQKPLkgOA
Marijuana ranked lower than coffee in addictive risk: http://www.tfy.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm
I could go on and on and on. Just come out and say you have a moral objection, because the science is not on your side here my friend.
george pratt
12:25pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Legalize it. We won't, but we should. In ten years we will be the 23rd state to legalize it.
Samuel Jew
12:52pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
The only social decay I see is the ignorance that empowers Nazis to shred our Constitution.
Christopher Lee
3:23pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Do pot smokers believe there are any harmful effects to smoking pot? Any at all?
I feel sorry for people who cannot live without ingesting psychoactive drugs. Is your life that bad that you need pot?
Thighrod Magenta
5:01pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Christopher, there may be some slightly negative effects (though I can't think of any); positive effects?
Helps me relax and see the big picture. I can be having a rough day filled with stress, one dose later and I can say to myself "things are pretty good, I could be a lot worse off".
Helps me reduce alcohol consumption. I used to drink at an organ-eroding pace. 3 beers is a big night for me now.
Has helped kindle an interest in the wider world around me. Thinking about scientific and political concepts from a different perspective provides a lot of enjoyment in my life.
Helps me sleep. A good dose an hour or two before bed makes falling asleep feel like drifting away on a cloud covered in a warm blanket, and I never have nightmares.
Helps me calm down. I am generally slower to lose my temper and stop to think of things from the other person's perspective. In short, I have become more empathetic.
Helps me with virtually any physical discomfort. Headache? Gone. Muscle soreness? Gone. Nausea or digestive complaints of pretty much any kind? Gone and gone.
Helps me with exercise. As a bronchial dilator, it actually increases my short-term lung-capacity - I don't get winded as quickly following a toke. A dose before a walk or jog help turns drudgery into a magical adventure.
Helps reduce anxiety. The more regular my use, the less general anxiety I experience day-to-day.
Helps to make hum-drum tasks bearable. Have you ever mowed the lawn/dug a hole/cleaned anything.....on weed?
Helps keep me healthy. Perhaps due to its strength as an anti-oxidant, I have not had a serious cold or illness of any kind since I started regular use. Research indicates that long-term use may reduce the incidence of many systematic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and dementia.
Helps enhance pretty much any activity. Has given me renewed enthusiasm for music, nature and, of course, most of all FOOD!
Gregory Martin
5:08pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
@Christopher Lee
Here are a couple lists of some more people you might "feel sorry for":
http://coedmagazine.com/2009/02/06/the-10-most-successful-potheads-on-the-planet-cool-enough-to-admit-it/
http://www.slatts.ukfsn.org/famous.htm
Including such "lazy stoners" as Barack Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Phelps, and more.
Christopher Lee
6:25pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
@Thighrod Magenta
If I understand you correctly, you cannot achieve any of the pluses cited without consuming a drug?
I can. It’s called exercise, eating right, meditation, following good sleep habits, setting positive goals and accomplishing them, etc. I don’t need a drug to accomplish the positives you cite. I get my high naturally, without having to disrupt normal neurochemical balances through the use of a psychoactive drug.
But then again I suppose it's a lot easier to just use drugs.
Like I said, sad.
Samuel Jew
7:20pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
@Christopher Lee
What's sad is pettiness and ignorance.
Thighrod Magenta
8:46pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Christopher: I run every day, eat healthy and have a great job. I've way more happy and productive than I used to be. Weed enhances my life and makes it better.
You should lay off the moralizing and superiority complex and give it a try - I think you could really benefit from a few hits.
Thighrod Magenta
8:47pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Christopher: I run every day, eat healthy and have a great job. I'm way more happy and productive than I used to be. Weed enhances my life and makes it better.
You should lay off the moralizing and superiority complex and give it a try - I think you could really benefit from a few hits.
Christopher Lee
7:56am on Sunday, November 18, 2012
@Thighrod Magenta
No thank you. I like my neurochemistry just the way it is - natural, without the need for psychoactive chemicals.
Take comfort in the fact that, eventually, pot will become legal. Society is becoming more liberal with each passing day. Gambling was once a vice, now it is considered recreation and expanding. Divorce was once shameful. So, too, was illegitimacy and porn. All are the norm today. Look at the garbage the media is peddling. Gay marriage will be legalized. Then prostitution. Harder drugs. Then who knows what. The problem with liberalism is there are no limits.
But for society to exist there must be boundaries to individual behaviors. Those boundaries have been stretched beyond the breaking point, with an incontrovertible increase in psycho-social pathologies as a consequence. No amount of government “programs” can cure us, for we have met the enemy, and it is within.
So rest easy. Much like Buick Century customers, people like me are dying off. Soon enough you will get your way. Good luck picking up the pieces in the aftermath.
Charles Marsh
9:17am on Sunday, November 18, 2012
America consumes 80% of the world’s opiate-based painkillers. In some U.S. communities almost 50% of newborns come into the world screaming in withdrawal because they have became addicted to “legal drugs” while in their mother’s womb. But don’t worry the big pharms have another opiate-based drug, methadone, to wean them off “legal” addictive painkillers. Instead of having a “war on drugs”, how about having a “war on drug ignorance”?
Thighrod Magenta
11:10am on Sunday, November 18, 2012
Chris, from the sounds of your moralizing, I take it that your clean living regimen includes a total lack of alcohol? I would hope that is the case, as weed is like a moped to alcohol's cement truck; both in its power to intoxicate and for its deleterious effect on the mind and body.
Samuel Jew
3:20pm on Sunday, November 18, 2012
I believe in traditional values and fail to see how cannabis is incompatible with them, especially as the more ancient sources on the topic have generally only good things to say.
Jason Forand
7:38pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012
All you people that are so against this, did you even do your research? Not only will the state spend less money pursuing people for simple marijuana possessions, it would increase the revenue in the state, something that is much needed. It will create new jobs for people that want to grow/sell the product. On top of that, the state will collect money annually for special licensing that would allow certain people or businesses to sell. And to the guy worried about the stoned drivers, I drive high everywhere, never been in an accident or even pulled over for speeding. If anything, it makes me more aware and less inclined to drive fast. This is one of the best things that could happen to the state and I'm not just saying that because I smoke it. I'm saying it because it has benefits to help this shitty state get back on track.