Indopedia All Things Marijuana
In a last ditch effort to put a recreational marijuana law on the books in Rhode Island, sooner rather than later, a couple of lawmakers have introduced a unique proposal designed to end marijuana prohibition without going all in, right out of the gate.
On Thursday, Senator Joshua Miller and Representative Scott Slater, in conjunction with the local cannabis advocacy group Regulate Rhode Island, revealed a proposal deemed “incremental legalization,” which they will attempt to push through the legislative sludge during the current session.
The bill would initially legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older, while establishing a six-person advisory panel to provide recommendations to the state legislature for how to launch a fully legal retail trade in the future.
The goal of the measure is to ensure that marijuana is legal in some capacity by July 2018 in order to coincide with the first day of legal sales in neighboring Massachusetts.
It is a sensible arrangement that the bill’s sponsors hope will get the legislature over its stubborn hump.
“We are prepared to compromise in a significant way, but there must be progress…
