Vox report ………Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) will call for marijuana legalization in her next budget proposal, Tom Mooney reported for the Providence Journal.
Several of Rhode Island’s New England neighbors, including Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont, have already legalized marijuana to some degree. Connecticut and Vermont, the latter of which legalized possession but not sales, are considering full legalization as well. And nearby, New York and New Jersey are pursuing the policy change.
In the face of all this movement, Rhode Island officials said they were worried about getting left behind.
“I will say, I do this with reluctance,” Raimondo told the Providence Journal. “I have resisted this for the four years I’ve been governor. … Now, however, things have changed, mainly because all of our neighbors are moving forward [with marijuana legalization].”
The proposal would legalize possession and sales, which would be taxed. It would impose stricter laws and regulations than those in other states that have legalized; it would ban home-growing cannabis and high-potency marijuana products like dabs, and limit how much THC (the main psychoactive component of marijuana) edibles can contain.
