Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2007
Source: Newport Daily News, The (RI)
Copyright: 2007. The Newport Daily News.
Contact:  http://www.newportdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1808
Author: Joe Baker
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SENATE BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

PROVIDENCE - Following the lead of the House of Representatives, the 
Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that would make 
permanent the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The Senate vote was 28-5, a plurality that easily surpassed the 60 
percent threshold needed to overturn an expected veto by Gov. Donald 
L. Carcieri. All four Newport County senators voted for the bill.

In 2005, the General Assembly passed legislation legalizing the 
doctor-prescribed use of marijuana for patients with debilitating 
diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or AIDS. The patient 
could possess up to 5 ounces of useable marijuana or grow up to 12 
marijuana plants. The patient also could have up to two qualified 
"caregivers" who could help the patient buy marijuana.

Carcieri vetoed the bill, but, on the first day of the 2006 
legislative session, the General Assembly easily voted to override 
that veto. But that legislation set a June 30, 2007, expiration date 
for the law, allowing state officials to determine if there was any 
widespread abuse. The identical bills approved by the House on 
Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday would make the law permanent.

The bill also reduces the amount of marijuana a caregiver could have. 
The current law allows the caregiver to supply marijuana to up to 
five patients. The caregiver could possess up to 5 ounces and grow up 
to 12 plants for each of those patients. The bill approved by the two 
chambers would limit that to a total of 5 ounces and 12 plants.

"This allows seriously ill people to alleviate their pain ... without 
the fear of prosecution," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Rhoda E. 
Perry, D-Providence. "These people using medical marijuana are not 
using it to get high. They are using it to relieve their pain."

Sen. Leo R. Blais, R-Coventry, tried to amend the bill to prohibit 
anyone convicted of violating state drug laws from getting a medical 
marijuana license.

"We have a responsibility to the rest of the public to make sure if 
they do something else and violate the Rhode Island controlled 
substance act ... then they should also lose their rights and 
privilege to (legally) grow marijuana," he said.

Blais' amendment died on a 13-20 vote. Sen. June N. Gibbs, 
R-Middletown, voted for the amendment. Sens. Charles J. Levesque, 
D-Portsmouth; Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport; and Walter S. Felag Jr., 
D-Warren, all voted against it.

After the House passed its version, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said 
the governor would likely veto it again this year because possessing 
marijuana still was against federal law and the law contained no 
safeguards on the quality of marijuana being used.

The bills approved by the two chambers individually must also be 
approved by the other chamber before they can be forwarded to 
Carcieri. The governor has one week to either sign the bills or veto 
them. If he vetoes them as expected each chamber has to approve them 
again by a 60 percent margin to override the veto.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman