Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2005
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2005 The Providence Journal Company
Contact:  http://www.projo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352
Author: Scott Mayerowitz, Journal State House Bureau
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MARIJUANA LEGISLATION MAY BE 'VETO PROOF'

One Change to the House Bill Yesterday Was the Addition of a Sunset
Provision, Repealing the Law on June 30, 07.

PROVIDENCE -- The push to legalize the use of marijuana for medical
reasons is heating up.

As a House committee yesterday voted 10-2 in favor of the
legalization, a national advocacy group started airing ads on network
and cable TV urging Governor Carcieri to back away from his threat to
veto the legislation.

The Senate passed a version of the measure 34 to 2 last Tuesday, and
after last night's vote in the House Health, Education and Welfare
Committee, the full House could be voting by tomorrow.

The bill seeks to protect patients, their doctors, pharmacists and
caregivers from arrest under state drug laws if a doctor certifies to
the state Department of Health that the patient has pain from a
"chronic or debilitating" medical condition, such as cancer or AIDS,
that might be eased by marijuana.

The state would issue registration cards allowing the patients and
their caregivers to possess up to 12 plants or 2.5 ounces of "usable
marijuana" at any time.

Several changes were made yesterday to the legislation, sponsored by
Rep. Thomas C. Slater, D-Providence.

Slater added a sunset provision, repealing the law on June 30, 2007.
The Department of Health would need to provide a report to lawmakers
by Jan. 1 of that year on how the program is working. Lawmakers would
then decide if they want to renew the law.

The registration cards given to patients and their caregivers must now
include a photograph in addition to their name, address, date of birth
and other identifying information. Previously, the photo was optional.

The list of people registered will be confidential. However, the
latest version of the bill includes a provision requiring the state to
notify state and local law enforcement of the number of qualified
patients in each community.

Caregivers cannot have a felony drug conviction.

Plants must "be stored in an indoor facility." There was some concern
about plants being grown in outdoor locations where others -- such as
residents of a multifamily house -- might gain access.

Slater also named his bill in memory of Sen. Rhoda Perry's nephew,
Edward O. Hawkins, who died of AIDS last year at age 41. Perry,
D-Providence, is the Senate sponsor of the medical marijuana
legislation, also named in the memory of Hawkins.

The legislation still does not provide a way for people to get the
drug, leaving that presumably up to illegal channels.

Ten states have such laws: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Arizona has
enacted legislation, but has no formal program to provide marijuana by
prescription.

Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that users of medical
marijuana in the states that permit it can be prosecuted by federal
authorities, but that hasn't stopped the legislation's movement here.

Slater last night said the bill appears "veto proof." The Senate
passed the legislation with enough votes to override. Fifty of the
House's 75 members signed onto -- but have yet to vote for -- the
bill; enough to override.

The Marijuana Policy Project launched its TV ad campaign yesterday,
according to Neal Levine, director of state policies for the
Washington D.C. advocacy group.

"It looks incredibly likely that this is going to the governor's
desk," he said. "We're trying to let the governor know how many people
in the state support this."

He would not say how much the campaign costs or how long it will
run.

The commercials feature Rhonda O'Donnell, a Warwick registered nurse
who has testified several times about how she has suffered from the
effects of multiple sclerosis for more than a decade.

"It shouldn't be a crime to follow my doctor's advice," she says in
one ad.

The governor's office got 174 phone calls on the issue yesterday --
the "vast majority" were in favor of legalization -- according to
Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal. Almost every call, he said, appeared to
be forwarded from an advocacy group doing mass phone calls.

Slater last night mentioned a March 2004 poll for the Marijuana Policy
Project where 69 percent of Rhode Islanders said they support a bill
like his.

"It's big out there in the public," Slater said. "I think that the
governor usually listens to the public and I hope he listens to the
public this time." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake