A new plan to legalize recreational cannabis in Rhode Island was introduced in the House and Senate Tuesday, kicking off what will be months of debate before a final bill is potentially approved.
The new legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Scott Slater and state Sen. Josh Miller, includes a new framework to oversee the cannabis industry modeled on the system in New York state.
“This is a great day,” Slater told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“Last year we had some differences on our bills, but we’ve been able to come together and work collectively.”
The newly crafted plan is a result of talks between the two chambers but does not yet represent a compromise with Gov. Dan McKee.
Slater and Miller said the legislation has the support of House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio — Ruggerio even signed on as a co-sponsor — representing a significant step towards passing cannabis legalization this year. All four are Democrats.
The bills were referred to the House Finance and Senate Judiciary committees, respectively, and hearings were not immediately scheduled.
The identical bills in the House and Senate would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow small amounts of the plant at home, according to a summary of the bill. It would allow prior marijuana possession charges to be expunged, but only upon request of the convicted person.
A total of 33 cannabis retail stories would be allowed to open under the new proposal, a number that includes the impending nine compassion centers, which would be allowed to seek hybrid licenses to sell both medical and recreational marijuana.
Those medical dispensaries would be able to start selling recreational cannabis on October 1, according to the bill, as long as they pay a new hybrid licensing fee of $125,000.
The remaining 24 retail licenses would be awarded by a newly created three-member Cannabis Control Commission. The licenses would be distributed throughout the existing six geographic zones created by the state for the recent medical marijuana lottery.
The commission would issue four retail licenses in each zone, with at least one worker co-op and one social equity applicant selected in each zone.
But it’s unclear exactly how the new cannabis commission would decide which applicants get the licenses; the bill leaves it up to the new commission to decide, according to Slater. In contrast, McKee’s proposal, introduced as part of his budget bill last month, would utilize a random lottery to pick the retailers.
McKee’s bill would also keep oversight of the cannabis industry under the R.I. Department of Business Regulation, which already has a cannabis regulation office that currently runs the medical marijuana program.
The debate over who should oversee the licensing of retail stores has been the chief disagreement between Senate leaders and McKee, one that still has not been resolved.
But Miller and Slater downplayed the significance of the issue, noting there was little other outstanding disagreement between the legislators and the governor.
Asked Tuesday what he thinks of the new bill, McKee said he had not yet reviewed the legislation and would comment further once he has been briefed on the details.
The new House and Senate bill would still call for a cannabis office within DBR, staffed by the…
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