Delaware Marijuana Legalization Vote Delayed In House As Lawmakers Review Amendments

The issue of marijuana legalization won’t be picked up by Rhode Island lawmakers until this summer or fall, a top lawmaker said this week.

The latest cannabis reform law was only tabled two weeks ago. Following the introduction, sources familiar with the situation told Marijuana Moment that they expected lawmakers to meet again in September to address the issue, as time runs out before lawmakers usually pause for the summer after the budget is closed.

Now House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D) confirms that this is a possibility.

“The legalization of marijuana will not be decided until after the budget is passed this month,” Shekarchi told WPRI-TV on Wednesday. “It is possible that we will return sometime in summer or fall.”

Rep. Scott Slater (D) is the sponsor of the latest legalization bill, separate from the governor and Senate leaders’ reform proposals. The spokesman said, “Out of respect [Slater’s] working hard on this issue, we will have a hearing ”although this is not planned yet.

“There is still no consensus on the very different proposals from Rep. Slater, the Senate and the governor, and many other proponents have interfered with their ideas as well,” he said.

Governor Daniel McKee (D) also commented on the legalization debate during a briefing last week, saying he was “very pleased” with the proposal his office made in March as part of his budget proposal. However, he questioned whether the competing proposals can move forward over the next few weeks.

“I know there are discussions going on right now, but you can see that several versions are developing very late in the session, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is something that may be carried over to an autumn session,” he said. “I really enjoy waiting for it to take care of itself – and we are involved in these conversations.”

The governor also dodged whether he would support a homegrown provision in legalization legislation, saying he would “not answer that question just because I don’t know enough about the subject.”

“What I know is that we have a good bill in our budget that provides for good regulation, entrepreneurship and economic opportunities for many people,” said the governor.

Pro-Legalization Senator Josh Miller (D) told WPRI that he believes that “we should act sooner rather than later, before we have a Rhode Island-based marketplace with no revenue in Rhode Island and Massachusetts or our black market, what the worst-case scenario would be. “

Connecticut lawmakers are expected to begin legalizing marijuana during a special session this month.

In Rhode Island, Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey (D) told the broadcaster that, unlike Slater and the governor, he doesn’t want the market to be regulated by the State Department of Commerce; Rather, it is important to him “to have its own commission in one form or another”.

But Slater said he doesn’t think the Massachusetts experience with the Cannabis Control Commission was really that great. Why create another level of bureaucracy? “

Shekarchi also told Democratic colleagues in a closed session recently that legalization will not be part of the state budget that lawmakers intend to pass later this month, according to The Providence Journal.

Slater’s legalization measure contains guidelines similar to taxing and regulating cannabis for adult use, but in some ways it appears to have a stronger focus on social justice than the other measures – even if it doesn’t include everything that advocates want.

The new law allows adults 21 and older to buy and own up to one ounce of marijuana in public. You could also grow up to six cannabis plants at home, with a maximum of 12 plants allowed in homes where more than one adult lives.

In contrast to the governor’s move and that submitted by Senate leaders, Slater’s proposal provides for the automatic deletion of people with previous cannabis convictions.

While the legislature has been working on the adoption of a budget, questions have remained open as to whether legalization is being adequately supported. Shekarchi has been relatively calm about cannabis reform, so his comments on solving the problem are noteworthy as early as this summer.

The speaker recently said that he saw legalization as “inevitable” but told Politico that “there are many pressing matters ahead” and that he was not sure the Chamber will have time to look into the cannabis measure.

The governor’s legalization plan, unveiled in March as part of his budget proposal, would also allow the commercial sale of cannabis to adults aged 21 and over. It was considered but not acted on in a House panel last month.

Meanwhile, days before the governor’s announcement, Senate leaders tabled their own law to legalize it.

On the Senate side, both measures were heard in a joint committee hearing at the beginning of April, but not voted on and have been on hold since then.

Both the governor and the heads of state and government’s legalization plans differ significantly from the proposal that former governor Gina Raimondo (D) included in her budget last year. Before leaving office to join the Biden government as Minister of Commerce, she called for legalization through a state model.

McKee first glimpsed his perspective on reform in January, saying, “It’s time that [legalization] happens ”and that he“ tends towards an entrepreneurial strategy to do it that way ”.

Shekarchi meanwhile said he was “absolutely” open to the idea of ​​cannabis legalization and was also leaning towards privatization.

Late last year, the Senate Finance Committee began a preliminary review of legalization in preparation for the 2021 session, with lawmakers generally accepting reform as inevitable. “I definitely think we will act on this issue, be it more private or more governmental,” said Senator Ryan Pearson (D), who now serves as the panel’s chair.

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Senate approved a bill in March that allows safe consumption locations where people under medical supervision could consume illegal drugs and obtain resources for treatment. Harm reduction advocates say it would prevent overdose deaths and help de-stigmatize substance abuse.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a hearing in March on a law that would end criminal penalties for possession of small quantities of drugs and replace them with a $ 100 fine.

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Photo courtesy WeedPornDaily.

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