Governor's says plan could raise $8 million, but patient groups call it a 'sick tax' and counter with legalization push
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Medical marijuana advocates are opposing an annual $350-per-plant fee that Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo wants to impose on some growers as part of her budget plan.
Some state lawmakers on Thursday introduced an alternative: Legalize and tax recreational marijuana instead of making patients pay more for the drug they use as medicine.
Raimondo said she supports Rhode Island’s decade-old medical marijuana program but said her proposal to tax each state-approved marijuana plant would improve it.
“It is meant to bring order to the system that we currently have, which is fairly unregulated and disorderly and inconsistent,” she said.
