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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

APRIL 12, 2010

Rhode Island To Hold Hearing on Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana

H 7838 Would Create Regulated Marijuana Market Similar to Alcohol, Allow Adults to Purchase Marijuana From Licensed Retailers

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Tomorrow, Tuesday April 13, the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee will receive testimony on H7838, a bill that would tax and regulate marijuana similar to alcohol, allowing adults 21 and older to purchase up to an ounce of marijuana from registered retailers.

         Sponsored by Rep. Edith Ajello (D-Providence) and Rep. Rod Driver (D-Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond), H 7838 would prohibit advertising marijuana or using it in public places. It would also create a $50 an ounce excise tax on all marijuana sold by wholesalers. Revenue produced from the tax would go toward maintaining regulations, into the state General Fund, and also be used to fund drug and alcohol abuse treatment and prevention programs.

         WHAT: Hearing for H 7838, a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in Rhode Island

         WHO: Rep. Edith Ajello, the bill’s sponsor, and others will testify

         WHERE: House Lounge

         WHEN: Tuesday, April 13, Rise of the House

            With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

APRIL 10, 2010

Maryland Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

Measure to Provide Patients With Safe Access Now Moves to House

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — Today, with no discussion or objections, the Maryland Senate voted 35-12 to pass SB 627, a bill that would allow qualified patients to be recommended medical marijuana by their doctor and receive safe access to their medicine through state-licensed distribution centers. The bill now moves to the House. The General Assembly’s session ends Monday night.

         “I’m very proud of my Senate colleagues today for voting to provide some of our most vulnerable residents with the compassion and care that they deserve,” said Sen. David Brinkley (R-Frederick), the bill’s sponsor and a two-time cancer survivor. “Anyone who has watched a loved one suffer from a debilitating illness would agree that we should not stand between doctors and patients, or deprive seriously ill people safe access to a legitimate medicine if it can help them cope with their illness.”

         “We think this bill offers the most carefully crafted medical marijuana law in the country,” said Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Silver Spring), one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “It offers legal protection and safe medical access to patients who are desperately in need and takes every possible measure to prevent abuse. I’m hopeful that our colleagues in the House will give this proposal serious consideration, and make Maryland’s medical marijuana law a national model for how to promote medical privacy, social compassion, and security in administration.”

         Fourteen other states, including New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maine, have effective medical marijuana laws. This year, more than a dozen other states, including New York, Illinois, Delaware, South Dakota, Arizona, and Kansas, are considering medical marijuana laws. The District Council of Washington, D.C. is working on a medical marijuana law expected to be implemented by the end of this year. 

         Under current Maryland law, medical marijuana patients are provided with a limited affirmative defense in court, no protection from arrest, and no safe means of access to their medicine. Patients can still be given a $100 fine that results in a criminal conviction.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

APRIL 10, 2010

Maryland Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

Measure to Provide Patients With Safe Access Now Moves to House

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — Today, with no discussion or objections, the Maryland Senate voted 35-12 to pass SB 627, a bill that would allow qualified patients to be recommended medical marijuana by their doctor and receive safe access to their medicine through state-licensed distribution centers. The bill now moves to the House. The General Assembly’s session ends Monday night.

         “I’m very proud of my Senate colleagues today for voting to provide some of our most vulnerable residents with the compassion and care that they deserve,” said Sen. David Brinkley (R-Frederick), the bill’s sponsor and a two-time cancer survivor. “Anyone who has watched a loved one suffer from a debilitating illness would agree that we should not stand between doctors and patients, or deprive seriously ill people safe access to a legitimate medicine if it can help them cope with their illness.”

         “We think this bill offers the most carefully crafted medical marijuana law in the country,” said Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Silver Spring), one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “It offers legal protection and safe medical access to patients who are desperately in need and takes every possible measure to prevent abuse. I’m hopeful that our colleagues in the House will give this proposal serious consideration, and make Maryland’s medical marijuana law a national model for how to promote medical privacy, social compassion, and security in administration.”

         Fourteen other states, including New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maine, have effective medical marijuana laws. This year, more than a dozen other states, including New York, Illinois, Delaware, South Dakota, Arizona, and Kansas, are considering medical marijuana laws. The District Council of Washington, D.C. is working on a medical marijuana law expected to be implemented by the end of this year. 

         Under current Maryland law, medical marijuana patients are provided with a limited affirmative defense in court, no protection from arrest, and no safe means of access to their medicine. Patients can still be given a $100 fine that results in a criminal conviction.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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