In the latest
advancement for marijuana law reformers, the Rhode Island state legislature
today legalized medical marijuana stores in the state, overriding Gov. Don
Carcieri's (R) veto.
The new law will take effect immediately. Legislators
voted in favor of the measure by wide margins on several votes today (vetoes of
both House and Senate bills were considered in each chamber): 67-0 and 64-0 in
two votes in the House, and 35-3 in both House votes.
Carcieri had vetoed the
legislation on Friday.This marks yet another victory for marijuana
reformers in 2009, a year that has seen major advancements toward the inclusion
of marijuana reform in the mainstream political lexicon. California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger suggested a public debate on marijuana legalization in May,
after the state's budget crisis and the Mexican drug war added some rationales
to reform efforts. A Field poll showed 56 percent of Californians in support of
outright legalization.
President Obama, who had pledged to back off federal
raids on medical marijuana users and sellers, took office, and with him new
drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, who doesn't support legalization but oversaw the
implementation of a decriminalization program as Seattle's chief of police. The
new administration is viewed in the marijuana reform community as much easier
to work with than the previous one, and as having a friendlier approach to
reformers' goals.
Rhode Island's action "is of actual significance
because it is the first state to take an existing medical marijuana law and add
state licensed dispensaries to it," Mariuana Policy Project Communications
Director Bruce Mirken said.
"This is a direct result from a more
enlightened policy from the administration," Mirken said, citing Attorney
General Eric Holder's cessation of medical marijuana raids, in keeping with
Obama's opposition to them, despite some Drug Enforcement Agency raids that
were conducted soon after Obama transitioned into office.
Rhode Island is now
the third state to allow medical marijuana dispensaries, along with California
and New Mexico. New Mexico became the first state to issue a license for a
dispensary in March, pursuant to legislation passed in 2008.