R.I. lawmakers greet proposal for legal marijuana cautiously

PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina Raimondo’s legislative effort to legalize recreational marijuana had its first rollout before lawmakers Tuesday, and the reception was, perhaps predictably, wary.

Members of the Senate Finance and Senate Judiciary committees held a joint hearing on the 170-page proposal and raised several concerns.

They said the plan provides far too little money for drug-abuse prevention, especially among youth. The proposal includes about $500,000 for abuse prevention, but with much of it going toward staffing rather than programming.

They questioned the cost of 28 new positions (on top of 5 current employees) for a new cannabis regulatory commission. And they said some of the proposed criminal penalties — like making it a felony to give marijuana to anyone under 21 — were unfairly excessive, no matter how well-intended.

And some senators, such as Louis P. DiPalma, D-Middletown, simply didn’t buy Raimondo’s argument that since Rhode Islanders are already crossing the state line to buy recreational pot in Massachusetts — and maybe soon in Connecticut — Rhode Island should at least have its own regulated program and use tax proceeds to address inevitable health and safety consequences.

“If you are saying Rhode Island is going across the line and will then suffer negative impacts, we should do everything in our power ... to make sure every single Rhode Islander never, ever has the product,” DiPalma told officials from the Department of Business Regulation who were testifying in support of the proposal.

Raimondo pitched legalizing recreational pot in January as part of her budget proposal for the next fiscal year, noting that surrounding states were moving in the same direction.

Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have all legalized recreational weed, and Connecticut and New Jersey are considering it. Whether Rhode Island legalized recreational marijuana or not, Raimondo reasoned, health and safety concerns would leach into Rhode Island.

Ten states have approved recreational use in recent years, and New Jersey lawmakers are expected to vote later this month on the issue.

Raimondo said her plan would be the most restrictive in the country. It would prohibit home-growing of recreational marijuana, now allowed in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, and ban high-potency products from recreational store shelves, such as “dabs,” which are concentrated resins that are smoked.

The proposal would also require that single servings of popular edibles such as gummies, brownies or cookies contain no more than 5 milligrams of THC, the psychotropic compound in marijuana.

Local communities could opt out and would still get a share of generated revenues, though not as much as communities that decide to host pot stores.

If the proposal is approved and communities raise no objections, recreational pot sales could start by next January, said Norman Birenbaum, the state’s top marijuana regulator.

Birenbaum has said the state’s three existing medical marijuana dispensaries, located in Providence, Warwick and Portsmouth, would be the first to sell recreational pot, since they already have the state-approved infrastructure and licensing to grow and sell marijuana.

But the proposal also calls for six new dispensaries that would be retail outlets only and not grow centers.

Since January, regulators have reached out to various stakeholders to get their input on the plan.

In submitted written testimony on Tuesday, two business groups raised concerns that legalization would make it more difficult for employers to find qualified and reliable employees and possibly infringe on their right not to hire someone who uses marijuana recreationally.

The Rhode Island Business Coalition said legalization might increase worker absenteeism and noted that a 2015 national survey found Rhode Islanders already use marijuana at one of the highest rates in the country.

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, while not taking a position on recreational use, said, “Employers need the ability to set drug-policy standards that address their business’ needs.”

Birenbaum told senators Tuesday that after hearing from the business groups that the initial proposal had been amended to address their concerns.

Responding to questions about hiring more than two dozen additional regulators, Birenbaum said, as a comparison, that 60 people work for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission and 20 more were expected to be hired soon.

The proposal would also make several changes to the state’s 12-year-old medical marijuana program, which was for years loosely regulated as home growers sometimes sold excess marijuana to the black market.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, which supports legalization, said in a statement, however, that it fears the proposal will impede those “who have a true need for marijuana for medical purposes.”

One of the ACLU’s concerns is a provision that says for a patient to act as his or her own caregiver (or private grower), the patient must demonstrate an undefined “need” to DBR. The legalization proposal would also prohibit patients from sharing excess medical marijuana with other patients.

For several years, bills to legalize recreational use have stalled in the State House, with the General Assembly’s leaders never allowing the legislation forward for a vote.

Earlier Tuesday, Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio told the Journal that, “While I continue to keep an open mind on legalization of recreational marijuana ... I also have significant concerns, particularly with regard to workforce issues, enforcement around edibles, and impact on children.”

Ruggerio said he planned to “proceed very cautiously as we continue to have this important public discussion.”

The proposal is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday before the House Finance Committee, Room 35 at the State House, at the rise, usually about 4:30 p.m.