Rhode Island becomes latest state to consider recreational marijuana legalization

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Rhode Island state lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would end recreational marijuana prohibition and create a system to begin regulating and taxing weed.

This is the fourth year such a proposal has been put forward, the Huffington Post reported. The state legalized medical marijuana in 2006 and advocates have been saying that this would be a natural step forward. A 2014 Public Policy Poll of Rhode Island voters found that 52 percent were in favor of changing marijuana laws.

“Marijuana prohibition is an ineffective and wasteful policy, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer,” state Sen. Joshua Miller (D), who sponsored the Senate bill, said in a statement. “The legislature is perfectly capable of creating a system that will work for Rhode Island.”

State Rep. Scott Slater (D), who sponsored the companion House bill, said that this would “take sales out of the underground market and allow authorities to keep tabs on the product,”

“In a legal market, products are tested, labeled, and packaged appropriately, and consumers will not be exposed to other more harmful substances. Taxing marijuana will generate tens of millions of dollars in new revenue that can be invested in our communities,” he said in a statement.

Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana through voter referendums. Vermont and Maryland have both introduced similar bills to Rhode Island’s.

Rhode Island’s bill, called the Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act, would legalize the possession, use and sale of recreational marijuana for those age 21 and older, HuffPo explained.

Adult residents would be allowed to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow one marijuana plant in a secure, indoor facility for personal use. Smoking marijuana in public would still be banned.

The state Department of Business Regulation would oversee retail and growing facilities.

“Of the taxes generated on marijuana sales, 40 percent would be earmarked for substance abuse treatment, anti-drug public education and law enforcement training,” the Huffington Post reported. “The measure proposes an excise tax of $50 per ounce of marijuana flower, $10 per plant and $15 per ounce of any other marijuana product sold wholesale from cultivators to retailers. A 10 percent sales tax would be applied to all retail sales.”