Rhode Island Approves Medicinal Use of Marijuana
June 29, 2005
The Rhode Island legislature has passed a bill that permits the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, according to an article published in the New York Times on 29 June 2005. This decision comes just three weeks after a Supreme Court ruling allowing federal authorities to prosecute people who use marijuana medicinally even if the state where they live allows it.
The Rhode Island State Senate passed the bill by a vote of 33 to 1. Next, Governor Donald L. Carcieri will receive the bill, which he is expected to reject. However, people who support the bill expect that to have the required two-fifths majority in the house, which last week passed the bill 52 to 10, to override the governor's veto. This would make Rhode Island the 11th state in the U.S. that allows patients to use marijuana medicinally.
The bill proposes that the law permit Rhode Island residents who have a "debilitating medical condition," such as cancer, glaucoma or AIDS, "to receive a signed statement from their doctor stating they would benefit from marijuana." Names of these patients and their caregivers would then be recorded in a registry maintained by the State Department of Health.
The drug would be self-sourced: eligible patients would have a state registration card that permits them (or their caregivers) "to grow up to 12 marijuana plants indoors or possess up to 2.5 ounces [of marijuana]" without risk of arrest.
Additionally, doctors would be limited in their prescribing, being permitted to prescribe medicinal marijuana for only 5 patients at once.
Source: The New York Times, 29 June 2005
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