PROVIDENCE, R.I. — On a day when the ACLU joined medical marijuana patients and caregivers in decrying new fees and limits on their homegrown plants, others headed to the State House to urge Rhode Island to beat Massachusetts to legalizing recreational marijuana.
With Massachusetts already taking steps in that direction and other states reaping huge financial windfalls from making it legal, this is the year Rhode Island should pass a perennially shunned bill to regulate and tax marijuana, supporters of the legislation said on Thursday.
Arguments in the past to adopt wait-and-see attitude are no longer warranted, said Rep. Scott Slater, D-Providence, who is sponsoring the bill for the fifth year in a row.
"The results are in," Slater said at a news conference announcing the introduction of the bill this year. "It's abundantly clear that regulating marijuana like alcohol works. The Colorado economy is doing very well from this. Tax revenue has exceeded projections. And the sky has not fallen as opponents had predicted."
Read more
