MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES PASS HOUSE

PROVIDENCE - Following the lead of the Senate, the House of
Representatives Wednesday approved by a lopsided majority a bill
approving the establishment of a non-profit "compassion center" to
distribute medical marijuana to authorized patients.

After just over 10 minutes of debate the House voted 63-5 to pass the
bill introduced by Providence Rep. Thomas Slater. A companion bill
passed in the Senate last month on a 35-2 vote.

Before the measure can become law, the House must pass the Senate
version of the bill and/or the Senate must pass the House version of
the bill and send it to Gov. Donald Carcieri who, according to his
spokeswoman, is "expected to veto it."

The margins by which the proposal passed in each chamber would easily
be sufficient to override a veto, if legislative leaders choose to
challenge Carcieri on the matter.

Supporters hailed the passage as a needed follow-up to the 2006 law
making it legal for seriously ill patients who are registered with
the state Department of Health to possess and grow marijuana for
medical purposes. While they were authorized to have and use the
drug, the often sick and feeble patients were on their own to obtain
it. If they could not grow a sufficient supply for themselves, they
were forced to acquire it on the street through the black market, a
dangerous method they said occasionally led to their being
threatened, beaten or robbed.

"It was never our intent when we first licensed this to send
critically ill patients to help local drug dealers with their
business," said Rep. Joseph McNamara, chairman of the House Health,
Education and Welfare Committee. "This legislation would offer safe,
viable and regulated alternative to that."

Warwick Rep. Joseph Trillo, who opposed the original medical
marijuana law, said the dis

Watching the debate and vote from a wheelchair was Ellen Smith, a
retired school teacher from North Scituate who uses marijuana to ease
the symptoms of sarcoidosis and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Smith told reporters outside the House Gallery that she takes the
drug to sleep through the night, something her pain did not allow her
to do before. Most of the time, she said, patients in her condition
are prescribed opiates such as Oxycontin or Morphine, but her body
can not tolerate those drugs.

Smith was eager to dispel misapprehensions about medical marijuana
users.

"We're not druggies," she said. "I don't get stoned; my body gets
relaxed. There is a huge difference."

Smith and her husband, Stuart, say they try to grow the drug, but
having the dispensary will provide a back-up source of the medicine
that she does not have now.

Slater, who is a cancer patient said after the vote that "people
don't realize how much pain you get from cancer. Each day I get up, I
don't know if I am going to be able to walk because I have so much
pain in my legs."

Slater said he does not currently use marijuana, but he can foresee a
day when it may become necessary.

Jesse Stout, executive director of the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition,
said his group "would love to see the governor sign this important
piece of legislation," but said that in the event of a veto, they
urge the House and Senate to override it quickly.

"Patients need to have access to medical marijuana right now," he
said.

If it becomes law, the bill calls for the Department of Health to
write regulations under which it will consider applications for a
non-profit group to operate a compassion center and to grant a
certificate to open a center within 190 days.

A center would be allowed to acquire, possess, cultivate, deliver,
transfer, transport and supply marijuana and related supplies and
educational materials to patients who are registered with the health
department. There are currently just over 600 patients registered to
use marijuana in the state.

According to the legislation, two more compassion centers can be
established after two years from the effective date of the bill.

Amy Kempe, the governor's spokeswoman said Wednesday that "The
governor has not changed his opposition to the legislation." Last
year, the House amended a compassion center bill to establish a
commission to study the proposal, but Carcieri vetoed that. The
legislature allowed that veto to stand.

She said allowing medical marijuana dispensaries "weakens the laws
governing illicit drugs and it also weakens the public perception of
illicit drugs."