Good news! Following floor debates in both chambers of the General Assembly earlier today, a majority of Rhode Island legislators have approved legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults. Governor McKee who has previously indicated he would sign the measure. With the governor’s approval, Rhode Island will become the 19th state to end …
There is unprecedented support in the general assembly this year for legislation that would effectively legalize adult use of marijuana in Rhode Island. The past few years similar bills have not made it out of committee — but look who is already on board this year as co-sponsors. From Jared Moffat director of Regulate Rhode …
So, recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado and the Denver Broncos just won the Super Bowl — one more argument in favor of legalizing and taxing marijuana here in Rhode Island. And while it appears that our governor is coming around to the whole taxing idea, she seems to be skipping the crucial legalizing step. …
Marijuana reform advocates will be returning to the state house next year in the hopes of convincing the General Assembly that 2016 is the year for Rhode Island to join the forward-thinking states that already regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol. “War on marijuana a flop in R.I.” in today’s Providence Journal makes an excellent …
Tax And Regulate Marijuana In 2016 — Let’s Do This! Read More »
“Once a town gets a SWAT Team, you want to use it.” Radley Balko — who writes on criminal justice, the drug war, and civil liberties for The Washington Post — was speaking to Slate about his recent book “The Rise of the Warrior Cop: the Militarization of America’s Police Forces.” And what happened in …
(6.19) Head over to the Rochambeau Library on Thursday for a forum on the marijuana ‘Tax and Regulate’ legislation currently before the general assembly. Regulate Rhode Island (RRI) will host a panel of advocates from varied backgrounds who will discuss why they believe marijuana should be legalized for adult recreational use in Rhode Island. Regulate …
(3.24) Some years ago I was sitting on my couch watching a Lewis Black comedy special. At one point, he took to task the Baby Boomers as a cohort so feckless that they had failed to do the one thing expected of them — legalize marijuana. And I knew he was right. I felt shame …
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin is asking for an increase of 8% in his budget for the next fiscal year. Governor Chafee wants him to find 7% in cuts. Providence Journal staff writer Tracy Breton reports on the staffing woes at the A.G.’s office in today’s paper, “Stretched to the limit, prosecutors plead case.” …
AG Kilmartin Asks For Bigger Budget, More Prosecutors Read More »
Attitudes are changing across the country regarding marijuana reform. A piece at HuffPo — “Colorado, Washington Pot Legalization Deals Drug War Major Blow” — has a great quote from my LEAP cohort Tom Angell. “To put this into historical context, there is no historical context,” said Tom Angell, spokesperson for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “It’s …
Attention Pols — Support Marijuana Reform And Be A Winner Read More »
Look familiar? Haven’t we been down this road before? The headline in today’s Providence Journal reads “Record heroin seizure in R.I.” as if this were a big win in our war on drugs, when in fact it means just the opposite. If we were winning this war after 40 years the hauls would be getting …
Heroin Bust In The News — The War On Drugs Drags On Read More »
[youtube]a0atL1HSwi8&feature=player_detailpage[/youtube] Coming to the Cable Car in November “The House I Live In” may be the film that will finally get this topic traction with the general public. Directed and written by Eugene Jarecki, and winner of the Grand Jury documentary prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, this film takes on the failed war …
In its discussion of the recent elections in Mexico and why the National Action Party may have been voted out, the Providence Journal editorial board has recognized our role in the Mexican drug violence and suggests a possible alternative to our government’s current drug policy. Though voting the PRI back into power was not what …
Law professor Michelle Alexander is the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, a book about the invidious effects of our decades-old war on drugs and our exploding (and disproportionately black) prison population. The paperback has been on The New York Times nonfiction* bestseller list for many weeks. In …
. . . while Rome burns. I am shocked, shocked to discover that the recent President’s video question contest was merely a cynical ploy by Google and YouTube to increase traffic to their sites. Apparently Google pulled the top vote-getting question (posted below) regarding marijuana legalization. Here is a portion of a LEAP statement posted …
Welcome To ‘Google Plus’ Hangout — Where Fools Discuss Snacking Read More »
[youtube]J0IpiATxdR4[/youtube] A question advocating marijuana legalization from a retired LAPD deputy chief of police won twice as many votes as any other video question in the White House’s “Your Interview with the President” competition on YouTube this weekend. President Obama is slated to answer some of the top-voted questions on Monday. The marijuana question was …
Cop’s Marijuana Legalization Question Top Vote-Getter In White House Video Contest Read More »
A segment tonight on the NBC Nightly News series “Mexico: the War Next Door” reports on a recent incident along our border with Mexico. A pickup truck packed with a half ton of marijuana crashed following a high-speed chase by Alamo police; the driver turned out to be a 12-year-old boy. The official response so …
Mexican Drug Cartels Now Recruiting American Children Read More »