Gov. Donald Carcieri vetoes bills to end mandatory minimums for marijuana offenders

On July 3, 2007, Gov. Carcieri vetoed legislation that would give judges more discretion and reduce decades-long marijuana sentences. The General Assembly had passed the bills S207 and H5127 by veto-proof margins with more than 90% of each chamber approving them. But the General Assembly is in recess and has not scheduled a return.

Please take a moment to contact your state legislators and ask them to override the veto. Using MPP's easy online system, you can choose from pre-written letters or draft your own.

Each decade that a person is incarcerated costs the state of Rhode Island hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sentencing marijuana offenders to decades is terribly unjust, and there are far better uses for those tax dollars. The harshest sentences should be reserved for violent crimes.

The twin bills would reduce the maximum sentence for possessing or delivering one to five kilograms with a detectable amount of marijuana from 50 years in prison to 20 years. The maximum sentence for possessing or delivering more than five kilograms with a detectable amount of marijuana would be reduced from life in prison to 30 years.

Under current law, a judge must sentence the defendant to at least 10 years in prison for possessing or delivering one to five kilograms of a substance with marijuana, and to at least 20 years for more than five kilograms. The only exception is if the judge specifies "substantial and compelling circumstances" which justify the "imposition of an alternative sentence." S207 and H5127 would eliminate these excessive mandatory minimum sentences. The same sentencing reductions would apply to other drug offenses as well.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on to other Rhode Islanders, so that more voices for reform can be heard.