Posted on 02/12/2014 8:37:23 PM PST by smokingfrog
PROVIDENCE -
Some Rhode Island lawmakers said Tuesday they want to legalize and tax marijuana.
NBC News reported that marijuana brought in more than $1 million in tax revenue for Colorado in the first 27 days it was legal.
"Rhode Island faces a pretty serious deficit. The sooner we pass this legislation, the sooner we can start to realize the necessary tax revenue off these sales," state Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, said.
Supporters of the bill said they believe legalizing marijuana could bring $26 million in tax revenue to Rhode Island annually.
Ajello and state Sen. Josh Miller, D-Cranston, have submitted similar bills in the past.
"I do not encourage or promote marijuana use, however I do believe that responsible adults should not be punished because they prefer marijuana to martinis," Ajello said.
The bill would allow adults 21 years or older to buy up to one ounce of the drug from a maximum of 10 distributors in the Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin strongly opposes legalization.
In a letter he sent last year opposing a similar bill, Kilmartin wrote, "With juveniles' perception of the risk of marijuana already diminishing due to decriminalization in our state ... this act would only further blur the risk perception of teen marijuana use."
(Excerpt) Read more at turnto10.com ...
The downward spiral into oblivion continues
"necessary tax revenue"
Good idea. RI has the lowest job creation in the USA. Better to have them all lying around stoned out of their gourds than wondering where all the jobs went.
Marijuana - the NEW opiate of the masses.
Legalizing murder for pay will bring in vastly more revenue. Prostitution and child molestation can also be taxed. There are a host of avenues for increasing government coffers once morality is dismissed as a governing principle.
Keep ‘em dumb, high and voting DemocRAT, right boys?!
This slippery slope will never end. The US will end up being one big Amsterdam.
Leni
They’ll probably be toking and texting at the same time.
Good point.
Yeah, because nothing says "morality" like throwing someone in jail because he gets high ingesting a plant growing in his garden instead of drinking a martini!
Regards,
One tiny toke for potheads, a roller coaster to hell for society.
Bookmark.
Ah my birthplace. Good. Like I’ve said ... to a man every single Prosecutor in my office supported legalizing marijuana. Making it illegal is idiotic on SO many levels.
Soon Big Marijuana will be the target of lawyers.
The fact is he is getting HIGH. It doesn’t bother you that one by one the states are making it perfectly legal to light up a noxious weed that makes one spacey and dopey? What once was the coming of age past-time for rebellious teens holed up in a friend’s basement with Zeppelin on the boom box giddily laughing about how much they have the munchies will now become a totally out in the public widespread activity that our kids, and those of us who HATE the aroma, will be exposed to.
It boggles my mind that they want to outlaw cigarettes and yet are legalizing marijuana. There was a time it was frowned upon. I guess there was a time a lot of things were frowned upon that are currently just fine and dandy.
Listen, if they want to allow and regulate it medically I don’t have a problem with that, there are prescribed substances that do just as bad side effects or worse...but this is a smoked mind-altering, to some hallucinogenic DRUG. It must be regulated. I’ve given up hope for this country.
I don’t think the tax revenue will last long, people will grow there own pot, and to try and police those growing there own will suck up any revenue acquired.
"The right to swing your arms in any direction ends where my nose begins." Thus, if my dopey neighbor smokes a joint and then accidentally runs his lawnmower all over my petunias, I'll press charges. But until then, it's none of my business.
It doesn’t bother you that one by one the states are making it perfectly legal to light up a noxious weed that makes one spacey and dopey?
Oh, no - It totally "bothers" me! It also "bothers" me that my neighbor lounges around on his back porch wearing a "wife-beater" and picking his teeth with a knife. Yeah, that's the ticket - let's legislate everything that "bothers" us!
What once was the coming of age past-time for rebellious teens holed up in a friend’s basement [edited for brevity] will now become a totally out in the public widespread activity that our kids, and those of us who HATE the aroma, will be exposed to.
So you want to incarcerate people - in some states, simple possession (without even the intent to sell) can land you in prison for literally years - just because you find the aroma annoying? Are you kidding?
Regards,
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