Since legislation was passed in 2006 creating a medical marijuana program, Rhode Island has seen rapid growth in the number of people legally permitted to use medical marijuana to cope with a host of medical maladies, including chronic pain, anxiety, hypertension and nausea. There are now 2,250 patients in the program and 1,656 caregivers, or those permitted to grow up to 24 marijuana plants for designated patients. That’s more than double the numbers from a year ago.