Perhaps emboldened by the voters of Washington and Colorado, lawmakers in Rhode Island and Maine announced today that they will introduce legislation to make pot legal there for recreational users. Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello and Maine Rep. Diane Russell made the joint announcement through the Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit advocacy group.
“We are passing the tipping point when it comes to this issue,” said MPP Legislative Analyst Robert Capecci. “Unfortunately, lawmakers have traditionally been behind public opinion when it comes to marijuana policy reform. With these thoughtful legislators in at least four states planning on introducing sensible proposals to remove criminal penalties and regulate marijuana in their states, it’s clear that ending marijuana prohibition is gaining momentum.”
He added that similar bills are expected in Vermont and Massachusetts. Vermont and Maine have had MMJ since 2009, Vermont since 2006, and Massachusetts just passed an MMJ law on election day.
Momentum indeed. Mr. Smith approves.
This article appears in Nov 8-14, 2012.
Roll on Green Thunder
Come on, Arizona, legalize! For once, let’s not be the last in the nation to do the inevitable.
The simple fact is when you have a drug as dangerous as alcohol has proven to be, not legalizing cannabis is nothing but hypocrisy. Anyone who knows the history of as to why cannabis was made illegal in the first place already knows that it’s rife with hypocrisy. Anheuser-Busch had a had a huge impact in making cannabis illegal because they saw it as a threat to their product. That is one of two reason they don’t get any patronage from me, the other of course being that most of the product they manufacture is swill.
One more thing: It’s a nice thought that Karen Mitchell puts across in her statement, but this backwards-ass Republican nightmare of a state will fight tooth & nail to keep this from ever happening. They can’t even respect that people who suffer from a myriad of ailments should have legal access to something that makes their lives more comfortable. Lousy antiquated & ignorant values are all these people seem to respect. Sad…but true.
Well said AZ/DC….This state will be the last.
I hate to agree with a statement like yours Old man, but…I do agree. Of course I’m talking about the “This state will be the last” part; the other part was dead on! Nothin’ like giving yourself a nice healthy pat on the back.