Legislators may vote to override veto of medical marijuana distribution bill

By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Warning that it would “move Rhode Island further down the path of weakening the laws governing illicit drugs,” Gov. Donald Carcieri vetoed legislation Friday that would establish “compassion centers” to distribute medical marijuana to authorized patients.

“The passage of this act would create a public perception that Rhode Island is complacent toward drugs that are illegal in the United States,” the governor said in his veto message, “especially as Rhode Island has already experienced a recent significant increase in marijuana usage among persons 12 years and older as well as a decrease in the perception of the risk of marijuana use among that same population.:
Carcieri chided the General Assembly that it “should be passing stronger drug laws, not passing laws that condone the growth, manufacture and sale of a drug that is deemed illegal by the federal government.”
Providence Rep. Thomas Slater, the sponsor of the House version of the bill, predicted a quick override of the veto in both chambers, perhaps as soon as next week. Slater said he spoke to the leaders of both the House and Senate “and they can’t wait to override it and dance on his desk” afterwards. He said House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed “are going to have a battle over who is going to do it first.”
Slater said he expected the veto, particularly since last year Carcieri vetoed a bill to study the concept of compassion centers, but added that nonetheless, “I am very upset with the governor.
The veto was announced on the day when Slater, who has championed medical marijuana legislation for several years, and whose name is on the bill that made it legal in Rhode Island, prepared to apply to the state health department for certification to use medical marijuana to fight his own cancer.
“My doctor filled out the paperwork,” Slater said Friday. “Now it’s up to me to take it over to the health department.” Asked if he would wait for the first compassion center to open — a process that according to the legislation would take more than six months once the bill becomes law — Slater said, “that depends on how bad I get.”
He said young people who know of his illness have offered to obtain marijuana for him in the past, adding, “in Rhode Island you can get it anywhere.”
Rhode Island legalized medical marijuana for qualified patients with chronic or debilitating medical conditions certified by their physician several years ago, but patients, many of whom are enfeebled by their illnesses, complained that they were sometimes threatened, assaulted or robbed when they tried to obtain the drug through the black market. The compassion centers, non-profit organizations that would be licensed by the Department of Health, are intended to provide a safe, legal place for the patients to procure marijuana. The law calls for a single compassion center to be established at first, but calls for two more after two years time if there are applications to open them.
Carcieri said, “allowing the manufacture and sale of federally illegal drugs would send the wrong message to our children and would place them at risk. Although the intent of the legislation is to allow consenting adults to use marijuana only for medicinal purposes based on illness, the increased availability, along with a complacent attitude, will no doubt result in increased usage and will negatively impact the children of Rhode Island.”