Marijuana Policy Project

PROVIDENCE—The state Senate approved a medical marijuana bill on Tuesday, aiming to make Rhode Island the 11th state to shield from prosecution those who use the drug to treat health problems.

Senate lawmakers approved the bill 34-2. The measure would allow those licensed by the state to possess up to 12 marijuana plants or 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana.

The vote came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who use marijuana for medical purposes can still be prosecuted under federal law even if their home states permit their marijuana use.

Gov. Don Carcieri has said he will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.

"This bill would give Rhode Island citizens a false sense of security and would place them in danger of federal prosecution," said Carcieri's spokesman, Jeff Neal.

Neal said additionally, the governor does not believe the bill has enough safeguards to make sure the marijuana would not be misused.

"This bill would allow virtually anyone in Rhode Island to grow and distribute marijuana to anyone they pleased," Neal said.

The state Department of Health and law enforcement officials have also come out against legalizing the medical use of marijuana.

One of the two senators who voted against the measure said he would favor it, but he would like to see a measure passed first on the federal level.

"I think the state of Rhode Island should become one of the first states to ask our congressional delegation to make medical marijuana legal. I think this way it's a clear black-and-white issue. Here, we define a gray issue," said Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, D-Coventry.

But Sen. Rhoda Perry, the bill's sponsor, said protecting patients with conditions like AIDS and cancer who have a doctor's recommendation that they use marijuana is the right thing to do.

Perry, D-Providence, said she was moved to submit the legislation six years ago when her nephew, who has since died, was suffering the complications of AIDS and lymphoma.

Perry said she was pleased the measure passed the Senate by a veto-proof margin. Sponsors of a companion bill in the House, which has already held a committee hearing, predicted it would pass in their chamber.

The Senate approved an amendment Tuesday naming the bill for Perry's nephew, Edward O. Hawkins. But senators rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed medical marijuana users to be prosecuted for driving or operating a boat or plane under the influence if they were found to have traces of the drug in their blood.

Raptakis, the amendment's sponsor, said it was needed to prevent impaired driving. But other senators argued medical marijuana users could still be prosecuted for operating under the influence if they showed other evidence of impairment.

Since it takes all traces of marijuana a long time to leave the bloodstream, Sen. Charles Levesque, D-Portsmouth, argued it did not make sense to allow prosecution solely on the basis of a blood test.