MARIJUANA GETS TREATMENT FROM HOUSE, SENATE

PROVIDENCE - While a special Senate commission continues studying the
prohibition of marijuana and perhaps a Massachusetts-style
decriminalization of the drug, two House members have submitted
legislation to tighten up the state's medical marijuana law.

The Senate commission, chaired by Sen. Joshua Miller, will meet
Wednesday at 5 p.m. to hear from Rhode Island Public Defender John J.
Hardiman, Esq.; Jack Cole of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; a
representative of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association; and
commission member Joe Osediacz, a retired state trooper. Osediacz
will discuss state laws concerning the taxation of marijuana.

At the same time, two state representatives from Providence, both
retired police officers, have introduced a bill that would set
stricter limits on who can possess the otherwise illegal drug under
the state's medical marijuana law.

Reps. Joseph Almeida and John Carnevale want to phase out the
"caregivers" who are authorized to grow, possess and provide
marijuana to certified patients once the state opens up the
"compassion center" established last year over Gov. Donald Carcieri's veto.

Highlighting the need for tweaking the medical marijuana law, first
passed in 2006, the legislators pointed to the recent motion by a man
with a history of drug arrests to have drug possession charges
dismissed because he was authorized for a medical marijuana
identification card months after his arrest.

Almeida and Carnevale, while they support the concept of medical
marijuana, worry that the language in existing laws can be abused to
cover those who use the drug recreationally or sell it on the street.

"We both support compassion for sick people and believe medical
marijuana should be available to those who legitimately need it for
medicinal purposes," Almeida said in a written statement. "But there
are places where the law leaves too much room for abuse. We can fix
those and create a law that better serves Rhode Islanders by reducing
abuse and preventing crime on our streets. Rhode Island is one of the
frontrunners in medical marijuana, so the whole country is watching
how we do this. It's really important that we get it right."

Under the current law, caregivers are allowed to grow or procure up
to 2.5 ounces of marijuana or up to 12 mature plants for one or two
registered medical marijuana patients. The Almeida-Carnevale
legislation would eliminate licenses for caregivers one year after
the first compassion center opens, perhaps sometime this year. It
would ban those with convictions for drug felonies or capital
offenses from being caregivers.

It also eliminates a provision that allows registered users to give
marijuana to other registered users, saying that in no other case are
patients allowed to swap their prescription drugs. It also requires
that medical marijuana program ID cards include the date of birth of
its holder to prevent misuse.

The lawmakers say the changes are aimed at limiting the handling and
distribution of the drug to patients and professional staff at
compassion centers to prevent abuse and trafficking of marijuana.

Carlevale says other provisions would tighten up controls on the
compassion centers when they do open. For one, the bill would shift
responsibility for inspections of those facilities from the
Department of Health to the State Police and would allow unannounced
inspections. It would also allow some of the members of a compassion
center's board of directors to be residents of another state. Any
out-of-state board members would be required to sign a waiver of
extradition in advance, so the state would not be hampered in its
ability to charge them in any criminal investigation related to their work.

The idea, he said, is to allow professional companies who have
successfully run such centers in other states to bring their
expertise in the field to Rhode Island.

"Rhode Island doesn't have people with experience in running
compassion centers professionally," Carnevale said in a press
release. "If we ban people from other states from serving on the
board, we're preventing ourselves from having seasoned experts
running them. We need those people because it's important that
compassion centers are run professionally, with state-of-the-art
security and safety measures in place. What we are looking to do with
this bill is to provide medical marijuana to patients safely and
securely, minimizing abuse of the program. Preventing misuse will
keep patients safer and will ensure the success of the program for
years to come."

Co-sponsors of the bill include East Providence Rep. Roberto DaSilva,
a current Pawtucket police officer, Pawtucket Rep. Peter Kilmartin, a
retired Pawtucket police captain and North Providence Rep. Arthur Corvese.