May 10, 2010
Senate Judiciary Committee tackles decriminalization

On Tuesday, May 4, the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee met to hear testimony on a bill introduced by Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) that would remove the current criminal penalty imposed on individuals found in possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and replace that criminal penalty with a simple civil fine of $150. If enacted, this bill would make Rhode Island the 14th state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, Massachusetts being the most recent to do so. Please e-mail your state senator today and ask him or her to support this legislation and lobby Senate leadership to bring the bill to a vote.  

Senator Miller’s bill, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Leo Blais, would replace the current criminal penalty — up to a year in jail and a $500 fine — with a more sensible and simple $150 civil violation. The fine will escalate if unpaid, and multiple offenses could result in more severe consequences. In addition to saving up to $11 million annually in law enforcement costs, this sensible legislation would end the draconian practice of labeling first-time marijuana offenders as “criminals” — a label which carries heavy life consequences such as denial of federal student aid. MPP, our lobbyists, and our grantees are working hard in support of both this bill and a House version of decriminalization legislation authored by Rep. Edwards, but we need your help. It is crucial that legislators hear that their constituents support these reforms. Please ask your senator to support this bill and lobby for a vote. Also, take an additional minute and e-mail your representative and seek his or her support for Rep. Edwards bill!

Our lobbyists and grant-funded organizer, in conjunction with Open Doors, did a fantastic job of organizing witnesses to testify in support of Senator Miller’s bill. The committee heard supportive testimony from numerous individuals, including Senator Miller and MPP grantee Henry Harrison from the Rhode Island Campaign for Informed Marijuana Policy. Meanwhile, opposition testimony focused on the same old tired and discredited propaganda, unable to refute the effective arguments of those testifying in favor. Read about the hearing by visiting the Providence Journal.   

Although we had wonderful testifiers, constituent contact makes the biggest difference. Legislators want and need to hear from you. These e-mails are free and take only a minute of your time. Please e-mail your senator and state representative and request that they help to usher in new and more sensible marijuana reforms for the state of Rhode Island!

As always, thank you for all the hard and good work that you do.

April 15, 2010
House Judiciary hears decriminalization and tax and regulate bills

At last night's marathon House Judiciary Committee session, two important marijuana bills were heard. H7317 would replace criminal penalties for marijuana possession (one ounce or less) with a $150 fine. H7838 would set up a system to tax and regulate marijuana retailers, wholesalers, and home growers.

The committee was supportive of H7317, accepting the testimony in favor of the bill but questioning more closely the two opposition witnesses. Several possible amendments were suggested; the most important being a clause that would ensure that the civil penalty for marijuana would not violate parole. These amendments will have to go through before a vote takes place.

The testimony in favor of H7838 was quite strong, and a number of the committee members seemed to be in favor of the bill. Both bills were held for further study.

March 18, 2010
Hearing scheduled for tax and regulate legislation

On April 6, at 4:30 pm in the State House, the House Judiciary Committee will hear H7838. This historic legislation proposes regulations for wholesalers, retailers, and home growers of marijuana. Wholesalers would be taxed $50 per ounce, retailers taxed at the Rhode Island sales tax rate, and home growers taxed $100 per plant (with a maximum of three).

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron recently presented data to the Senate study commission which predicted $40.5 million in savings and $7.6 million in tax revenue if such a policy were implemented. These estimates are four times higher than Miron's estimates of savings and revenue under a decriminalization policy. What is it exactly we are geting in return for our tax dollars? Surely not a reduction in marijuana use. Rhode Island's marijuana use rates are higher than every other state - and significantly higher than in countries such as the Netherlands where marijuana can be purchased without fear of arrest.

According to the bill:
Decades of arresting millions of marijuana users has failed to prevent teenagers  or anyone else  from using marijuana: a study published in the American Journal of Public Health compared marijuana use and sales are de facto legal, found “no evidence to support claims that criminalization reduces [marijuana] use”

Our legislators must understand how important this legislation is: Rhode Island has the opportunity to lead the nation in ending the war on marijuana. Please consider attending the April 6 hearing. If you are interested in speaking in favor of the bill, please contact me at henry[at]rimarijuanapolicy.org.

March 16, 2010
Senate study commission and OpenDoors RI both release reports endorsing the decriminalization of marijuana

This afternoon, the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission met for the final time after a lack of consensus rendered the previous meeting inadequate. The commission voted an overwhelming 11-2 in support of the contents of its report (pdf), which included support for decriminalizing the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. The two nay votes came from the panel's law enforcement representatives, who chose to ignore the data presented to the commission and instead hold on to their misguided opinions. Both, for example, cited concerns that marijuana is a dangerous drug, even though Dr. Lewis had presented an overview of the research just last meeting. His conclusion, which was uncontested at the time, was that while marijuana had dangers, they were very minor - especially when compared with legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco. Despite law enforcement's protestations, however, this was without doubt a victory for supporters of marijuana policy reform.

Another report was released today by OpenDoors RI, represented on the commission by Nick Horton. Although this covers a lot of the same data as the commission's report, it includes more on the topic of human costs - such as actual stories of Rhode Islanders who have spent time in prison for marijuana possession. With this report, OpenDoors endorses marijuana decriminalization as a step forward for social justice in Rhode Island. While the Senate report may carry more weight, I recommend OpenDoors' as a more comprehensive, better organized resource for marijuana policy activists in Rhode Island.

March 3, 2010
Legislation proposed to tax and regulate Rhode Island's marijuana

Last week, Representatives Ajello (D - Providence) and Driver (D - Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond) introduced historic legislation that aims to end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island. In its place, H7838 proposes a set of regulations for wholesalers, retailers, and home growers of marijuana, and levies a tax of $50 per ounce. If passed into law, this act would raise considerable revenue in addition to saving millions in criminal justice expenses.

With a decriminalization bill already under consideration, R. I. now has two proposed alternatives to marijuana prohibition. As we discuss on our alternatives page, tax and regulate is the policy that offers the greater savings and revenue. It is consistent with the way we handle other potentially harmful substances such as alcohol and nicotine (it should be noted, however, that marijuana is far safer than either of those), and allows for regulations such as age limits, driving and heavy machinery penalties, health warnings, and advertising restrictions.

February 16, 2010
Senate commission meets again

Last week, the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission met again. This time, they invited the public to speak and share their views of marijuana prohibition.

Speaking against changing our state's marijuana laws were representatives from the Barrington Substance Abuse Task Force. Their argument centered around worries that decriminalizing mairjuana would encourage more children to use the substance. This point, however, is not supported by the evidence. A number of studies, listed here, show that loosening drug laws often leads to reduced usage, especially among youth. For example, Rhode Island teenagers use marijuana at a rate nearly double that of their counterparts in the Netherlands, where marijuana has been de facto legal since the 1970s. The threat of criminal penalties simply isn't a deciding factor in the decision of whether or not to use marijuana. Furthermore, the only age limit illicit drug dealers enforce is "old enough to carry cash." The best way to keep kids away from marijuana is for it to be sold on a properly regulated market. Doing so for alcohol proved a much better policy than prohibition, and no one would suggest making alcohol users criminals in order to send the right message to children.

Other speakers demonstrated the absurd waste of limited resources that is marijuana prohibition. Peter Hannon of Providence has been arrested six times for small-quantity marijuana possession over the last thirty years. He's been on probation since the age of 21 and lost out on countless job opportunities, all for being a casual, if unlucky, marijuana user. The number of criminal justice and judicial system resources devoted to this one man over the years is simply ridiculous, and has clearly served no purpose. In a just society, Peter Hannon would not be considered a criminal.

Another speaker, Brett Sincoski of Charlestown, spent three months in prison for failing to attend court-ordered rehabilitation programs - which he couldn't afford -after he was caught with 1/8 of an ounce of marijuana. Even if the Barrington Substance Abuse Task Force is right that using marijuana was a poor decision for Brett, putting him in prison helps no one. We, the citizens, employ the Department of Corrections in order to keep certain people separate from society. Brett is not one of those people. Put simply, here are far better things taxpayers could be doing with their dollars than locking up marijuana users.

The next and final meeting of the commission is scheduled for March 4, at 5 pm in room 212 of the State House. The public is welcome in the audience, though not again invited to speak.

February 4, 2010
February update: Marijuana decriminalization in sight for Rhode Island!

What an exciting time for Rhode Island! February is shaping up to be an important month for marijuana policy reform, with progress being made every day. I am pleased to report that it looks like our state may see positive changes to its marijuana laws sooner rather than later!

Marijuana decriminalization bill introduced in Rhode Island House

On Tuesday, Representative John Edwards (D - Tiverton) introduced House bill H7317 (pdf), which would make the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil, rather than criminal offense, punishable only by a fine of $150. This landmark legislation would save hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in criminal justice costs in addition to raising money from the citations. It would keep non-violent offenders from clogging our prisons and go a long way towards ending the failed policy of marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island.

Perhaps the biggest story is the overwhelming support this bill is getting from Edwards's colleagues in the House. The list of 35 co-sponsors includes 33 out of 69 Democrats and 2 out of the 6 Republicans in the House. To all the rimarijuana.org visitors who called or wrote their legislators, urging them to co-sponsor this bill: congratulations on a job well done!

There is one change we hope to see in the final version of the decriminalization legislation: its effect on probation sentences. Rhode Island has the loosest guidelines in the nation for charging its citizens with probation violations. If H7317 becomes law in its current form, vague probation rules would not stop judges from continuing to incarcerate probators for marijuana possession or even testing positive for marijuana in a drug test. These probation violation charges make up a significant portion of the potential fiscal and social savings of ending marijuana probation; we hope Rhode Island legislators realize the importance of making sure that marijuana decriminalization applies to all of their constituents, regardless of their criminal record or probationary status.

Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission hears powerful testimony

Yesterday, three presentations were made to the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission. First, Rhode Island Public Defender John Hardiman estimated the effects that the decriminalization of marijuana would have on his office. After combing over his statistics, he estimated that small-quantity marijuana possession cases take up approximately the case load of one attorney, for a cost to the state of about $116,000 yearly. However, this estimate does not include cases disposed of at arraignment, which includes the majority of marijuana possession cases. These cases do impinge on the Public Defender's office budget, Hardiman said. Also excluded were probation violators, who as we've discussed would make up a large portion of the savings from marijuana decriminalization. The data for probation violators is simply not tracked in an easily accessibly way, Hardiman said, so it was impossible to include those cases in his estimate. However, he agreed with the importance of reducing the number of probation violation charges, saying that the number of probation violations "crushes our ability to provide service to our clients."

Retired state trooper Joe Osediacz made a brief presentation, bringing to the commission's attention the tax on marijuana that Rhode Island already has in the books. Although this tax has been used in the past to charge those accused of marijuana crimes with tax evasion as well, no revenue has been collected on this tax since 2001, when $4 was collected (as Paul Dion, chief of the state's office of revenue analysis, recalls). This tax demonstrates the impossibility of regulating an illegal market - even if the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana were decriminalized, it is unlikely that Rhode Island would resume collecting this tax. Only by enacting a tax and regulate policy can the black market be eliminated and marijuana sales fully taxed.

Finally, the commission heard powerful testimony from former New Jersey State Police officer Jack Cole, now Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization of over 15,000 law enforcement officers who believe our nation's war on drugs to be a failed public policy. "A policy of regulation and control...is much more efficient and ethical than a policy of prohibition," Cole said. Although many points were made in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, perhaps the strongest was to note the effects that different policies have on usage rates. According to Cole, before drugs were made illegal in the U.S., the addiction rate was a modest 1.3%. Today, after trillions of dollars have been spent on interdiction and incarceration of drug sellers and users, the addiction rate remains a stable 1.3%. Money well spent? I think not.

Cole also referred to data that shows that state that have decriminalized marijuana have found usage rates go down, especially among teenagers. Although this fact is counterintuitive, it is supported by research which suggests that that neither availability nor fear of arrest is a limiting factor in adolescents' decisions whether or not to use marijuana. For links to the relevant studies, see our section on decriminalization studies. This is perhaps the most important point in the debate surrounding marijuana policy: even if you believe marijuana to be a terrible, wicked substance, you should still support ending marijuana prohibition, because regulation is more successful than prohibition at reducing its use.

Jack Cole also discussed Massachusetts' recent decision to decriminalize marijuana. In addition to providing significant revenue to cities and towns, the measure has freed up law enforcement's resources to pursue violent criminals instead of marijuana users. Cole estimated that in 2009, enough police time was saved in Boston alone to free up the entire year for at least thirteen officers. A similar redistribution of law enforcement resources in Rhode Island would do wonders for our clearance rate.

Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission seeks public input

The next meeting of the commission will be held on Thursday February 11, at 2pm, in room 212 of the State House. The meeting will be open for input from the public; this is your chance to talk to legislators directly about the importance of marijuana policy reform. I urge all of our supporters to show up and speak up! I would also be happy to advise you on how to make your testimony most effective: send me an email at henry[at]rimarijuanapolicy.org and we'll be in touch. Thanks and see you next week!

January 20, 2010
The Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission meets again

Yesterday the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission met for the second time. In case you weren't there, here is a summary of the three presentations that were made to the commission:

A.T. Wall
Director, Rhode Island Department of Corrections

The Department of Corrections reported to the commission their estimate of the costs that could be saved if criminal penalties were eliminated for small-quantity (one ounce or less) possession charges. Despite Director Wall's preface that the estimates were on the conservative side, their prediction was absurdly low. Many of the commissioners questioned the DoC's misleading methodology, and Senator Miller suggested that perhaps they had been too conservative in their report.

In order to arrive at their savings estimate of 60 beds annually at a cost of $232,000, the Department of Corrections counted only those inmates who were committed only for marijuana possession. This figure overlooks many more prison beds that could be emptied. It does not include individuals who violate their probation with a new marijuana charge, nor anyone who is sentenced to probation for possession of marijuana and then finds themselves in prison due to a technical violation.

At one point, new commissioner Senator Paul Jabour (D - Providence) asked Wall why the per-inmate cost he was using was so much lower than the number he used in his presentation to the budget committee - closer to $40,000 per inmate per year. Wall explained that the per-diem costs per prisoner are actually quite low, and the costs of staffing the housing units make up the majority of the department's budget. Since housing units are larger than 60 beds, they wouldn't be able to achieve the extra savings by closing a housing unit. However, there is one problem with Director Wall's logic. He mentioned that they open and close units throughout the year as the prisoner population fluctuates. If that is the case, wouldn't it stand to reason that reducing the overall number of prisoners would at least allow the DoC to keep housing units closed more often? Savings of $40,000 per inmate would still be realized, if not in the permanent closure of a unit, then spread out over the days when one is temporarily closed.

Let's not forget that there are reasons Director Wall might want to mislead the commission. There's no motivation for the Department of Corrections not to underestimate the costs of incarcerating marijuana offenders. After all, saving money on incarceration means less money that Rhode Island taxpayers have to pay to the DoC in exchange for locking people up. Of course Wall doesn't want to see his department's budget cut. As Bruce Reilly points out at rifuture.org, "any erosion of 'Tough on Pot' may put a considerable dent in the 'revenue' of incarcerated people." Even when decriminalization does pass (and it will), the more the DoC downplays their savings, the more revenue they will retain.

Nick Horton
Policy Researcher, OpenDoors (formerly the Rhode Island Family Life Center)

OpenDoors is an organization that works directly with the formerly incarcerated in addition to promoting policies that help them become contributing members of society. Unlike the Department of Corrections, OpenDoors would love to see a world which had less of a need for its services. They see every day the harm that marijuana prohibition causes to individuals and families, and they see reforming our marijuana laws as one of many ways to strengthen Rhode Island's communities.

Horton started his presentation by reviewing the history of marijuana prohibition. As we review on our prohibition page, the dialogue on marijuana prohibition has been anything but informed. The "facts" that were presented to Congress when it decided to make marijuana illegal included such gems as "marijuana makes darkies think they're as good as whites." At the same meeting, a representative from the American Medical Association testified against making marijuana illegal; unfortunately, Congress was more swayed by the Bureau of Narcotic's racist sensationalism. This racism hasn't disappeared, either: Horton showed data confirming that of those arrested for marijuana possesssion, blacks and hispanics are disproportionately incarcerated.

This presentation also amended the Department of Correction's savings estimate. Horton estimated up to 20 or more beds saved over and above Director Wall's estimate of 60. We at RICIMP believe that Horton's estimate is very conservative, and the DoC's is simply misleading. For an example of a less conservative estimate, drug policy research Jon Gettman's 2009 report, Marijuana in Rhode Island (pdf), uses a percentage-based method borrowed from the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy. Using this method to calculate corrections costs of marijuana prohibition, we calculate savings of $10.4 million annually. The true savings (for corrections only) will almost certainly lie somewhere between Horton's estimate of less than $1 million and Gettman's estimate of over $10 million.

Nick Horton also told three stories of individuals who have been incarcerated for marijuana possession. These real examples demonstrate that even with a minimal, entirely non-violent criminal record, marijuana possession can lead to jail time as well as lost job opportunities. Incarcerating these non-violent offenders in close quarters with violent criminals and gang members is surely the wrong way to get their lives back on track. If anything, it's marijuana prohibition, not marijuana itself, that turns some of these people into violent criminals.

Matthew Dawson
Deputy Chief, Criminal Division, Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General

The final presentation came from the Attorney General's office. Dawson quickly made his position clear: marijuana should stay illegal. He also made it clear that he was not interested in facts, but rather ridiculous, groundless assertions. His opening comment, "regular chronic users of marijuana, they are just different than other folk...they don't have the ambition or the desire to contribute to society like others do," is simply not true - many marijuana smokers have made substantial contributions to society. Even if Dawson's claim has some truth, it is quite a leap to take from the fact that someone is not being as productive as they could be to saying that they deserve to spend time in prison. At RICIMP, we agree with Dawson's stated goal of reducing the number of marijuana smokers in Rhode Island; however, we believe that locking people up is perhaps the worst possible way to achieve this goal.

Dawson also disagreed with the Department of Correction's savings estimate, claiming instead that not a single bed would be emptied by marijuana decriminalization. His rationale? He looked over a few files - and here he made a show of a pile of papers he had with him - and found that they all had other crimes on their record. What were these other crimes that prevented these prisoners from being counted as being in jail for marijuana possession? On questioning by the commission, it was revealed that some of these "other crimes" included additional charges for marijuana possession as well as probation violations. Dawson admitted that if someone was on probation for marijuana possession, and then violated their probation by being caught with marijuana, they wouldn't count as being in prison for marijuana possession, but rather for defying a court order to stop using marijuana. "Two different things," Dawson said. Clearly, as Nick Horton pointed out, these people would not be in prison if marijuana were decirminalized, and their beds surely would be saved.

Another outlandish claim made by Dawson is that marijuana use by high schoolers doubled in Alaska when it was decriminalized in the 1970s. Again, this is false, as is explained here. On our alternatives page, we list many studies that demonstrate conclusively that decriminalization does not result in increased use of marijuana, as well as twenty-two nations that have succesfully decriminalized marijuana.

Luckily, the commissioners didn't seem to take Dawson's testimony too seriously. At times, he sounded like a bad caricature of anti-drug propaganda. When Dawson responded to an objection with the non-sequitur, "However, you must remember, drugs are bad," the entire room erupted in laughter.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch is running for governor this year. Since 64% of Rhode Islanders support decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana, it is clear that he has chosen the losing side of the battle to reform our marijuana policies. Send Lynch a message and let him know that he won't be receiving your vote unless he changes his mind on this important issue.

January 13, 2010
Next two Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission meetings announced

The next meeting of the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission will take place in room 212 of the State House on Tuesday, January 19, at 4:30. The meeting will be open to the public, so feel free to come and show your support. However, wearing pot leaf symbols or other "stoner" images could hurt the chances of passing marijuana policy reform this year. It's the state house - dress nicely!

The following speakers will be presenting at next week's meeting:

• A.T. Wall, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections
  
• J. Joseph Baxter, Rhode Island State Court Administrator
  
• A representative from the Rhode Island Attorney General's office
  

There will also be a meeting the following week, on Tuesday January 26, also at 4:30 in room 212. Presentations will likely include Jack Cole, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, as well as officials from Massachusetts who will discuss the success of the decriminalization of marijuana in their state.

January 11, 2010
Senate extends commission's report deadline
Last week, the Rhode Island Senate voted to amend the resolution that created the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission. The deadline for the commission to submit its report to the Senate was extended from January 31, 2010 to March 31, 2010. Additionally, four new seats were added: two will be Rhode Island Senators, and two will be law enforcement officials. One of the new commissioners will probably be Senator Leo Blais (R - Coventry), but at this time the other three are unknown.

December 1, 2009
Share your stories of marijuana prohibition!

According to the agenda discussed at the first meeting, the Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission will be hearing witnesses in January 2010. If you have personal experience with marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island, you should consider testifying.

• Have you been arrested on marijuana charges?
• Have you witnessed a robbery or assualt in connection with marijuana possession or sale?
• Have you witnessed law enforcement corruption related to marijuana?
• Do you have knowledge of the profits from marijuana sales funding other criminal activities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your testimony (in person or in writing) could help end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island. Please send us an email or write us and we will let you know how to proceed.

November 19, 2009
Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission meeting

The Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission, created earlier this year by the Rhode Island senate, met for the first time today at the state house. The commision is charged with studying "the effects of policies forbidding the possession, cultivation, and sale of marijuana in the State of Rhode Island." The following commissioners were present at the meeting:

John Grasso
          Director of Membership, Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Nick Horton
          Policy Researcher, Rhode Island Family Life Center
David Lewis
          Professor Emeritus, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University
Joshua Miller
          State Senator (D - Cranston)
Jeffrey Miron
          Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Economics, Harvard University
Donna Policastro
          Executive Director, Rhode Island State Nurses Association
Gerry Smith
          Administrative official (retired), Rhode Island Department of Justice
Nancy St. Germain
          Healthcare activist and medical marijuana cardholder

Leo Blais, State Senator (R - Coventry), sat in on the meeting but is not at this time an official member of the commission. Blais has previously sponsored legislation that would have decriminalized the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Not present at the meeting was commission member Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Brown University.

Although the meeting was largely procedural, there was some discussion of the overall scope of the commission. Senator Miller's opening marks suggested that the commission would focus its attention primarily on decrminalization. However, they are tasked with studying the potential revenue from taxing marijuana sales as well. To that end, Miller noted that nothing would be off the table for discussion.

We hope that the commission will see the fiscal and social benefits that a tax and regulate policy offers over decriminalization and make the appropriate recommendation in their report, due to the Senate in January. With Rhode Island's current budget crisis, tax and regulate is becoming more and more politically feasible, and a recommendation from an offical government body would go a long way towards making it happen.

We eagerly anticipate the next commission meeting, currently slated for December.

Henry Harrison
Executive Director
Rhode Island Campaign for Informed Marijuana Policy

News Stories

9/2/2010
Brown Daily Herald
Local marijuana-growing class to start this month

8/19/2010
Los Angeles Times
National Black Police Assn. supports California's marijuana legalization initiative

7/28/2010
Los Angeles Times
A federal-state law inconsistency shouldn't stop Californians from legalizing marijuana

6/28/2010
Oakland Tribune
California NAACP signs onto pot legalization measure

May 11, 2010
Wall Street Journal
Loosening the reins

May 5, 2010
Providence Journal
Marijuana bill debate renewed

May 1, 2010
Sacramento Bee
Viewpoints: It's time to legalize and regulate pot

April 26, 2010
Associated Press
Study links drug enforcement to more violence

April 22, 2010
Providence Journal
Richard M. Evans: The president's pot problem

April 20, 2010
CNBC
Legalizing marijuana: An issue that just won't go away

April 20, 2010
CNBC
Rhode Island's Drive for Sensible Marijuana Laws

April 14, 2010
turnto10.com
House committee considers marijuana bills

March 30, 2010
Providence Journal
Editorial: 'Silver or lead?'

March 29, 2010
Providence Journal
Joshua Miller: Our new approach to pot penalties

March 17, 2010
Providence Journal
Senate commission recommends decriminalization of marijuana

March 16, 2010
Providence Journal
Update: RI panel endorses marijuana decriminalization

March 4, 2010
Woonsocket Call
Senate panel expects to vote on marijuana soon

March 1, 2010
Providence Journal
Senate panel may urge decriminalizing marijuana possession

February 15, 2010
Brown Daily Herald
Decriminalization is not enough

February 12, 2010
Providence Journal
R.I. panel weighs marijuana penalties

February 9, 2010
Providence Journal
Editorial: Decriminalize pot

February 4, 2010
Providence Journal
Measure would ease marijuana penalites

February 3, 2010
Wall Street Journal
Duo pushes Rhode Island to decriminalize pot

February 3, 2010
Providence Journal
Campaign to decriminalize marijuana comes to State House

January 20, 2010
Providence Journal
Costs of marijuana decriminalization in R.I. debated

January 19, 2010
Associated Press
RI Prison could save $232K by easing marijuana law

January 19, 2010
Associated Press
Hearing on decriminalizing marijuana

December 30, 2009
Westerly Sun
Editorial: Bring perspective to marijuana cases

December 26, 2009
Associated Press
R.I. Senate to consider loosening marijuana laws

December 18, 2009
Christian Science Monitor
California voters will decide whether to legalize marijuana

November 19, 2009 
Providence Journal 
Panel to discuss effect of R.I. law governing marijuana possession

November 19, 2009 
WPRI 
RI considers legalizing, taxing pot

November 18, 2009
NBC Channel 10
Senate panel looks at revising marijuana laws

November 16, 2009 
Providence Journal 
State panel to begin research on legalized marijuana funds

November 11, 2009
Associated Press
RI expects nearly $200M deficit as economy dives

October 19, 2009 
Providence Journal 
New US policy on medical marijuana includes RI

October 9, 2009
Brown Daily Herald
Letter: Nothing to fear from marijuana dispensaries

September 29, 2009
Providence Journal
Brown, URI students played key role in R.I. marijuana debate 

September 27, 2009
Providence Journal
As R.I. prepares for first marijuana clinic, questions abound 

September 27, 2009
Providence Journal
R.I. finds little guidance as it plans marijuana dispensaries

September 7, 2009
Los Angeles Times
The racism of marijuana prohibition