TALK RENEWS ON GOVERNING MARIJUANA

PROVIDENCE -- Two committees of the state House of Representatives
took up a host of proposals on Wednesday seeking to regulate
marijuana, bringing out medical-marijuana patients, university
students and former and current law-enforcement officers.

Supporters of a bill to legalize and tax the drug, including a
handful of former and retired police officers, argued that the
proposed law would make the state safer by allowing the police to
focus on major crimes rather than marijuana offenses, while also
helping the state dig out of its financial troubles by providing
additional tax revenue.

State Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin's office and the Rhode
Island Police Chiefs' Association spoke in opposition to a bill to
decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, arguing that
the proposed law would send a "mixed message" to youths about the
risks associated with marijuana.

And local medical-marijuana users came out against still another
proposal that would tax the so-called "compassion centers" that will
be licensed and regulated by the state to grow and sell marijuana.

Ellen Smith, a North Scituate resident who has been using medical
marijuana for about four years, said the tax would unfairly single
out marijuana patients, as other prescription medication users are
not currently taxed. "I don't understand how that is fair," Smith said.

Consideration of the bills comes close on the heels of two
significant developments in a state-sanctioned medical-marijuana industry.

Last week, Governor Chafee proposed a new surcharge and tax on
medical-marijuana sales as part of his first state budget. On
Tuesday, the state Department of Health announced the first three
recipients of state licenses to open compassion centers.

Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, said she again introduced a bill
to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana because she believed it would
"do wonders" by improving the state's budget situation while "taking
the criminal element" out of the marijuana supply-and-demand chain.
"We are moving towards [marijuana's] broad acceptance," Ajello said
in a hearing before the House Finance Committee.

Rep. Rene Menard, D-Lincoln, said he introduced legislation to tax
compassion centers because he viewed them as a potentially lucrative
industry that should help generate revenue for the state. (Menard
says his bill differs from Governor Chafee's proposal because it
would only tax centers that generate more than $500,000 in revenue,
whereas Chafee's plan would tax all centers.)

Rep. John G. Edwards, D-Tiverton, said he again introduced a bill
that would make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana a civil
offense subject to a $150 fine to remove the "stigma associated with
criminal arrest" that prevents many Rhode Islanders from attaining
good-paying jobs, or even volunteering in some places.

He noted that at least a dozen other states have similar laws on
their books, including Massachusetts. "Two years ago, they did this
and the state has not imploded," Edwards said at a House Judiciary
Committee hearing.

But Rep. Jon Brien, a Woonsocket Democrat who is a member of the
House Judiciary Committee, voiced concern that the proposed
legislation would only make the state's marijuana policy more convoluted.

"The perception that marijuana is a harmless drug is absurd to say
the least," said Central Falls Police Chief Joseph P. Moran III,
speaking on behalf of the Police Chiefs' Association.

Four other marijuana-related bills, all submitted by Rep. Roberto
DaSilva, D-East Providence, were also under consideration Wednesday
night in the House Judiciary Committee. No action was expected to be
taken on those or any of the other bills.