PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The Rhode Island Senate became the first chamber of the General Assembly to ever vote in favor of recreational marijuana on Tuesday, though the legislation still has a ways to go before potentially becoming law.
The vote was 29 to 9.
The historic vote came on the same day that Connecticut’s governor signed marijuana legalization into law, leaving Rhode Island sandwiched between two states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi has already said the House won’t consider cannabis legalization before the current session ends, but may consider it in a special session in the fall. The House Finance Committee removed Gov. Dan McKee’s recreational marijuana proposal from the budget bill that’s set to be voted on by the full House on Thursday.
The Senate-approved bill does not represent a final compromise with House leaders and McKee, both of whom have said they’re not in a rush to legalize.
McKee said Tuesday he opposes the provision of the Senate bill that would create an independent Cannabis Control Commission, similar to Massachusetts, to regulate the marijuana program.
“That’s probably the main thing that we have a disagreement on,” McKee told reporters. “I’m not in favor of adding additional costs to government.”
He has proposed to keep cannabis regulated by the Department of Business Regulation, which already has an Office of Cannabis Regulation. [Read More @ WPRI.com]
Source link
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish