Someday, marijuana will probably be legal, and people will look back and laugh at those times when a benign backyard weed caused heavily armed men in black jumpsuits to leap from police vans and arrest local pot farmers and burn their crops.

But not yet. Marijuana is still illegal, still shrouded in well-tended myth and still reason enough to get a person sent to the slammer.

So there is a wonderful opportunity this week for state government in Rhode Island to come down on the side of compassion and common sense.

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The Rhode Island legislature passed a bill yesterday allowing the use of medical marijuana, three weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could prosecute those who use the drug for medicinal purposes, even in states with laws allowing it.

The bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 33 to 1 last evening and will head to the desk of Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, who is likely to reject it. Supporters of the bill, which passed the House 52 to 10 last week, are confident they have the necessary three-fifths majority to override a veto and make Rhode Island the 11th state to authorize patients to use the drug.

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Carcieri Plans Veto, But Votes May Be There To Override It

Rhode Island is poised to become the 11th state in the nation to permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, with the divisive proposal expected to win final passage today and reach the governor's desk Wednesday.

Governor Donald L. Carcieri has said he will probably veto the bill, but supporters say they have the votes needed to override his veto.

The legislation comes at a critical juncture in the battle over the issue. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that medicinal marijuana users can be prosecuted under federal law even if their home states allow use of the drug. Last week, federal drug agents raided more than 20 medicinal marijuana dispensaries in California and charged two people.

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Providence A bill that would allow patients with serious diseases to smoke and grow marijuana continued its advance through the General Assembly, winning overwhelming support from House lawmakers Wednesday.

Qualifying patients suffering from diseases like cancer, AIDS and Hepatitis C would be shielded from arrest and prosecution under the bill, which passed 52-10. Their doctors and physicians also would be protected.

Rhode Island would become the 11th state to authorize the medical use of marijuana, according to the legislation.

If approved, the bill could put the state at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled earlier this month that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted under federal law even if their home states allow use of the drug.

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PROVIDENCE -- With legislation to allow seriously ill people to use marijuana as medicine having passed both chambers of the General Assembly by veto-proof margins, Rep. Thomas Slater is calling on Gov. Donald Carcieri to withdraw his threat to veto the bill.

The House of Representatives passed a medical marijuana bill Wednesday by a 52-10 margin - after amending it to add Slater's name to the title. A slightly different version of the bill passed the Senate two weeks ago on a 34-2 vote.

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Legislation is also passed by the House that lets judges force batterers who are under restraining orders to give up their firearms.

Legislation to allow the medical use of marijuana by seriously ill people with AIDS, cancer and other chronic and debilitating conditions cleared the Rhode Island House of Representatives for the first time yesterday.

On a busy night in the week before they hope to adjourn this year's legislative session, the lawmakers also approved their own version of a Senate-passed bill to allow judges to take away guns from accused batterers who have been placed under domestic-violence restraining orders.

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PROVIDENCE -- A bill that would allow patients with serious diseases to grow and smoke marijuana continued its advance through the General Assembly, winning overwhelming support from House lawmakers yesterday. Qualifying patients suffering from such diseases as cancer, AIDS and Hepatitis C would be shielded from arrest and prosecution under the bill, which passed 52-10. Their doctors and physicians also would be protected. Rhode Island would become the 11th state to authorize the medical use of marijuana, according to the legislation.

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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.

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Pro-Medical Marijuana Group Asks R.I. Governor to Reconsider Veto Threat

Last week, a Supreme Court ruling thrust the medical marijuana issue back into the nation's spotlight, and this week one group is taking advantage of the spotlight to open a state-level dialogue on the topic.

On Wednesday, the Marijuana Policy Project debuted two 30-second television ads starring Rhonda O'Donnell, a registered nurse suffering from multiple sclerosis. In one spot, O'Donnell describes her ten-and-a-half-year struggle with the disease and says any further delay of legislation allowing the use of medical marijuana "makes people suffer needlessly."

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PROVIDENCE - The House Health, Education and Welfare Committee gave a ringing endorsement to medical marijuana legislation Wednesday, providing hope that the General Assembly has enough votes to override an expected gubernatorial veto.

Buoyed by the 10-2 committee vote, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Thomas C. Slater, D-Providence, predicted he would get more than 60 votes on the House floor, or about 80 percent of the chamber. Last week, the Senate passed a nearly identical bill 34-2.

Both chambers need 60 percent approval to override a veto. But Slater said he hoped the override vote wouldn't be necessary.

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PROVIDENCE -- Legislation to allow the medical use of marijuana cleared a large hurdle Wednesday when a House committee passed it 10-2 and sent it to the full House of Representatives.

A spokesman for Gov. Donald Carcieri renewed the governor's threat to veto the measure, but the bill's sponsor, Rep. Thomas Slater predicted it would pass the full House with more than enough votes to override a veto, as a companion bill did in the Senate.

The House Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Committee amended the bill before passing it, so it now goes to the Senate. The Senate bill that passed last week, sponsored by Sen. Rhoda Perry, must now be amended to match Slater's and be passed by both the Senate and House before it goes to Carcieri's desk.

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A spokesman for the governor says the hang-ups should not have occurred and are being investigated.

At least two supporters of easing state laws to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes say they got the cold shoulder when they tried to express their views to staff at the governor's office last week.

The callers, both women, had been contacted by the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocacy group pushing the Rhode Island legislation, which Governor Carcieri has said he would veto.

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PROVIDENCE - In a powerful show of support, the Senate Tuesday voted 34-2 to allow Rhode Islanders to smoke marijuana to ease the symptoms of debilitating illnesses.

The vote came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal laws against marijuana use trump states' medical marijuana laws. The decision overturned a 2003 federal appeal court ruling that California's medical marijuana law prevented federal law enforcement officials from prosecuting those with marijuana prescriptions.

Sponsored by Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence, the legislation would direct the Department of Health to issue licenses to patients diagnosed with "a debilitating medical condition," including cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, Hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

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The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the federal government can prosecute sick people for using marijuana even though their doctors prescribe it and their states allow it.

An unfortunate ruling.

I've never tried marijuana. I don't romanticize it or want it to be widely available. But I do seek relief for people suffering from cancer, MS and other insidious diseases. In reading about the court decision, I'm dismayed that the legal debate focuses so much on things like the Interstate Commerce Clause. What about compassion for human beings?

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It is inhumane to deny the seriously ill use of marijuana to ease their suffering. That's why 10 states, including Maine and Vermont, have legalized medical marijuana, and Rhode Island is mulling doing so. Unfortunately, though, on Monday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that federal drug-law supersedes state law, so suffering people seeking relief through marijuana may be prosecuted.

A government that would prosecute ill citizens harming no one -- especially when so many pressing problems need attention -- is committing an injustice.

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Backers Defeat an Attempt to Restore Police Officers' Power to Arrest Sick People Who Drive With Traces of Pot in Their Bodies.

PROVIDENCE -- Despite the threat of a veto by the governor - and a pointed reminder this week from the nation's highest court that federal authorities can still prosecute sick people who smoke pot - the state Senate yesterday approved a bill to legalize the medical use of marijuana.

In sharp contrast to neighboring Connecticut, where deeply divided lawmakers debated the same issue for hours last week, the bill cleared the Rhode Island Senate by a 34-to-2 vote after little debate.

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PROVIDENCE - If legislation to allow sick and dying people to use marijuana as medicine became law, "marijuana farms could sprout up anywhere in Rhode Island" and state efforts to stop children from using pot "and other narcotics" might be "seriously undercut," so Gov. Donald Carcieri would veto the bill in its current form, his spokesman said Monday.

The Carcieri administration made its stance known on the day before a scheduled Senate vote on the medical marijuana bill and on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the federal government to enforce federal anti-marijuana statutes in states that have adopted laws permitting the medical use of marijuana.

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The Rhode Island Senate is set to vote on a bill today that would allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The vote comes only a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities may prosecute people for using medical marijuana even if state law protects them from prosecution.

In spite of the ruling, the Senate plans to vote on the bill.

"We've had it [the ruling] checked out by various lawyers as well as the ACLU at the national level the case today is solely the courts telling the Federal government they have a right to enforce the law," Senate Press Secretary Greg Pare said. "It provides states an even more compelling reason to enact laws to protect those suffering from chronic illnesses."

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I have multiple sclerosis. I smoke marijuana. I am a divorced mother trying to raise responsible kids. I am also a proud Rhode Islander, by luck of both history and attitude. At least three of those things cause me trouble every day.

On behalf of those of us who use marijuana or will in the future, I thank the General Assembly and all those who have supported accepting the truth of its assistance to us. I look forward to being able to hold my head proud, even high, again.

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The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes continues to be a subject of great debate.

This topic has become a salient one for our state since introduction of the Medical Marijuana Act, currently under consideration in Rhode Island. As chief judge of Family Court, founder and past president of the New England Association for Drug Court Professionals and current board member of the National Association for Drug Court Professionals, I am concerned over the lack of clarity in this act as it is currently written.

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