| 1/3/2006 |
Medical marijuana passes final hurdle, becomes R.I. law
Rhode Island today became the 11th state to allow patients to use marijuana under a doctor’s supervision to alleviate suffering.
With fanfare from advocates who gathered to celebrate the passage, the House of Representatives returned to the State House early on the first day of its 2006 session to override Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s veto of the medical marijuana bill the Assembly passed last year. With the Senate’s vote to override the bill having occurred before the summer recess in July, the law became effective immediately.
Sponsors of the legislation in both chambers said the passage is a victory for compassion in Rhode Island.
“It’s been a long wait and a lot of work, but this law will grant mercy and relief to the sick and suffering. Finally Rhode Island will stop denying sick people a proven means of relief from their pain. Today we gave hope to suffering people,” said Rep. Thomas C. Slater, (D-Dist. 10) who sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Anyone who’s ever watched a loved one suffer through the agonizing pain of diseases like AIDS, cancer or multiple sclerosis understands the desperation that these people face. They need every available option for pain relief to be open to them,” said Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, (D-Dist. 3), who sponsored the bill in the Senate. “I’m so happy that Rhode Island is now among the states that recognizes that medical marijuana is sensible, compassionate public health policy, not a weakening of laws against drug abuse.”
Under the legislation, patients under a doctor’s supervision and their caregivers could grow or otherwise acquire the marijuana plants in very limited quantities – up to 12 marijuana plants or 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana.
Although the law (2006 - S0710B/2005 - H6052Aaa
) takes effect immediately, patients and their caregivers will not be protected by it until they apply for and receive an identification card issued by the Department of Health, which has 90 days to set up its system for issuing the identification cards.
With the cards, both patients and their caregivers would be protected from arrest under state drug possession laws. While they would not be shielded from federal drug laws, the vast majority of drug arrests come at the state level, and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency generally targets major traffickers, not individual users.
The law’s passage comes after years of effort by its sponsors, Senator Perry and Representative Slater, both of whom represent areas of Providence. In honor of their personal crusades to make marijuana treatment available to the suffering, the General Assembly christened the law the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act.
Edward O. Hawkins, a nephew of Senator Perry, died two years ago after a long, painful battle with AIDS. As Hawkins suffered and wasted away in his final months, his family offered to get him marijuana to ease his pain and relieve his nausea, but he refused for fear of arrest.
Representative Slater is one of four of his six siblings to be diagnosed with cancer, and he has lost his father, brother and uncle to the disease. He underwent treatment for his second cancer diagnosis this summer. Although he said he has never reached the point where he needed marijuana to ease his suffering, he said he has witnessed the pain that patients with cancer and other diseases experience, and said he believes marijuana should be an option for them.
Both legislators emphasized that the bill does not legalize recreational marijuana use, and is narrowly written to limit the drug’s use to patients with a debilitating disease, who are under a doctor’s care and who register with the state.
The legislation includes a number of safeguards, including a requirement that all plants be grown indoors to prevent theft. The bill will expire on June 30, 2007, so the General Assembly would have the opportunity at that time to evaluate the law and decide whether to make it permanent, amend it or let it expire. The bill also requires the Department of Health to issue a report to the General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2007, on the effectiveness of the law to help legislators make that decision.
Ten states – Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington – have previously enacted laws allowing medical use of marijuana. A Zogby poll last year indicated that 69 percent of Rhode Islanders favor the measure.
The bill was co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Robert A. Watson (R-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich), Rep. Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence), Rep. Joseph L. Faria (D-Dist. 56, Central Falls) and Rep. Steven M. Costantino (D-Dist. 8, Providence).
The Senate co-sponsors were Sen. Joseph M. Polisena (D-Dist. 25, Johnston), Sen. Michael J. Damiani (D-Dist. 18, East Providence), Sen. Michael J. McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick) and Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, New Shoreham, South Kingstown).
Both of the identical bills became law today. Having already been overridden by the Senate before the summer recess, the Senate bill’s veto was overridden by the House today with a 58-to-13 vote. The House today also voted 59-to-13 override the veto of its own bill, which then went to the Senate to have the veto overridden there as well.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Waterman, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2457 |
LEGISLATIVE INFO
