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Home > News Archive > 2007 > Rhode Island: Legislature Makes One-Year-Old Medical Cannabis Law Permanent
Rhode Island: Legislature Makes One-Year-Old Medical Cannabis Law Permanent
June 28, 2007 - Providence, RI, USA
Providence, RI: More than 80 percent of House and Senate lawmakers voted last week to make the state’s one-year-old medical cannabis law permanent. The votes override an earlier veto from the state’s Republican governor, who sought to close the statewide program.
Under the state’s law, known as the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act, an estimated 300 state-authorized patients and their caregivers are provided state legal protections to possess medical cannabis.
The law was set to expire at the end of June unless it was reauthorized by the legislature.
In 2006, Rhode Island became the eleventh state since 1996 to legalize the medical use of cannabis for qualified patients. This past April, New Mexico became the twelfth state to enact such a law, and only the fourth to do so legislatively.
Earlier this month, Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell vetoed a similar proposal in Connecticut. However, state news outlets have reported that lawmakers may attempt to override her veto in a special legislative session later this year.
A New York state proposal to authorize the possession and use of medical cannabis passed the Assembly earlier this year before stalling in the Senate. Proponents are hopeful that the proposal may also be revisited in a special legislative session this summer.
For more information, please contact Erin Dame, NORML Outreach Coordinator, at (202) 483-5500 or visit http://www.ripatients.org .
updated: Jun 28, 2007
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