It appears that Governor Chafee may be warming to the concept of legalizing and regulating marijuana in Rhode Island as a potential source of tax revenue.

Over the weekend, Chafee, a Democrat, attended the National Governors Association's winter meeting in Washington, D.C., and listened to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, also a Democrat, talk about the legalization of marijuana in his state that is expected to generate more than $100 million in taxes and regulatory fees this year.

Hickenlooper had been an opponent of legalization, but state voters approved it in a 2012 referendum.

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I firmly believe it is far better to legalize adult possession and private use of marijuana, than to continue down the failed path of prohibition (""Bill to legalize, regulate, tax marijuana introduced"." Feb. 13). Colorado and Washington are showing us all that it can be done responsibly, and, clearly, House Judiciary Chairwoman Edith Ajello, and Senate Health and Human Services Chairman Joshua Miller are paying attention. They have introduced thoughtfully crafted legislation that would allow adults in Rhode Island to purchase marijuana from a well-regulated, taxpaying business, rather than from a tax-avoiding criminal. Their legislation would impose very thorough regulations so the state finally would know who is selling marijuana, where it is being sold, and to whom. Finally, it would address one of our most pressing public health concerns by earmarking 40 percent of revenue, after the cost of regulation, to go towards alcohol and drug treatment, prevention, and education. Here's hoping this will be the year we end our state's foolish, very costly, and often disastrous prohibition of marijuana.

Anthony De Luca

Saunderstown

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Marijuana policy reform is a hot topic these days in Rhode Island and across the country.

Over the last three years, we've been discussing the issue with constituents, colleagues, opinion leaders and activists on both sides of the issue.

Our conversations have led us to two points of agreement: First, our current marijuana policy has failed.

For instance, studies indicate an increase in youth marijuana use and that it is easy for them to get it. Second, most Rhode Islanders are ready for change.

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BOSTON - Two Rhode Island legislators introduced a bill Wednesday that could make the state the third in the United States to legalize recreational marijuana for adults.

State Sen. Joshua Miller and Rep. Edith Ajello, both Democrats, said the bill would regulate and tax marijuana, treating it similarly to alcohol.

The bill would allow adults to possess up to 1 ounce and to grow two marijuana plants.

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In April, possession of small amounts of marijuana was decriminalized in Rhode Island. Some might wonder what motivated the state government to loosen restrictions on a substance that causes such apparent mental impairment. How could this possibly benefit the state?

At the start of any given weekend on College Hill, many students prepare to drink, smoke, roll, trip and partake in other illegal drug-related activities. A Herald poll conducted last semester found that during the previous year, 85 percent of students had consumed alcohol, 49 percent had used marijuana, 9 percent had used ecstasy - also known as MDMA - and at least 7 percent had used some psychedelic agent ("Poll: White, older students more likely to use substances," Apr. 17). Many would say that, for the most part, the University turns a blind eye to this debauchery - a policy generally supported by the student body.

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"Speaker at R.I. conference says marijuana use among nation's youth is rising" (news, Oct. 25) confirmed that opponents of legalizing and regulating marijuana are still misleading the public and using fear tactics to distract us from the massive social costs of marijuana prohibition.

Let's get the facts straight. Nationally, youth marijuana use has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s -- years before the first state adopted medical marijuana in 1996. On top of that, youth use continues to rise in states with the most draconian marijuana laws, while states with less punitive laws, such as Colorado, have seen a decline in youth marijuana use.

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The state medical board has disciplined two doctors for improper prescribing practices, including one who authorized medical marijuana for two 16-year-olds without checking with their doctors.

Dr. Soneath L. Pond, an internist, wrote a medical-marijuana certification for a 16-year-old girl without obtaining full information from other providers who were taking care of her, according to a consent order between Pond and the state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline. Had he checked with her other doctors, the order said, Pond would have learned she suffered from anorexia, not a valid diagnosis for issuing a medical marijuana card, and that her treatment providers at Hasbro Children's Hospital had recommended against marijuana.

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Providence- Rhode Island is reducing the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and preparing to open its first medical pot dispensaries as states around the nation reassess their stance on the country's most popular illicit drug.

A new law decriminalizing the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana will take effect Monday. Instead of the threat of jail time or a $500 fine, those caught with marijuana will receive a $150 civil fine. The offender will have to forfeit the marijuana and appear in traffic court, but the incident won't appear on their criminal records.

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Providence ( AP) - State lawmakers this week will review legislation to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and other proposals that would crack down on some lesser known substances.

The legalization bill would allow those 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and would impose alcohol-style regulations and taxes on the sale of the drug.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Edith Ajello, D- Providence, argues that society's views on recreational marijuana use are changing and that prohibition has failed to keep the drug out of the hands of minors.

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When state legislators convene after the first of the year, they will again face a bill to legalize organic marijuana and a new measure to ban its synthetic counterpart.

Representative Edith Ajello (D-Dist. 3, Providence) is the sponsor of legislation for the third session in a row that would legalize pot in Rhode Island, while Rep. Joseph McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston) is drafting legislation to ban the sale of synthetic marijuana and bath salts.

Ajello's bill, which would make marijuana legal and impose restrictions on the sale of the drug similar to those for alcohol, was heard last year in committee but was never voted on. Ajello said she's unsure if it will make it to a vote this session either.

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PROVIDENCE, R. I. (AP) - Recent campaigns that made Colorado and Washington the first states in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana are energizing efforts to do the same in New England, with lawmakers in Rhode Island and Maine vowing to push legislation next year to impose alcohol style regulations and taxes on the drug.

Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello, D- Providence, said yesterday that the passage of legalization referendums in the two Western states are the latest indication that American attitudes toward marijuana are softening.

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Students at the University of Rhode Island are attempting to end the war on drugs. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), is an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities. The organization has over 100 chapters at universities on five different continents. This year, the URI chapter of SSDP was ranked the 9th best SSDP chapter in the country by High Times Magazine.

The mission of the organization is to improve illicit drug regulations on three different level; campus, state and federal. SSDP aims to make sure that students on-campus are not losing their opportunity for a prosperous future due to a substance problem or wrong decision.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Once consigned to the political fringe, marijuana policy is appearing on legislative agendas around the country thanks to an energized base of supporters and an increasingly openminded public. Lawmakers from Rhode Island to Colorado are mulling medical marijuana programs, pot dispensaries, decriminalization and even legalization.

Rhode Island is poised to become the 15th state to decriminalize marijuana possession. The state's General Assembly passed legislation last week that would eliminate the threat of big fines or even jail time for the possession of an ounce or less of pot. Instead, adults caught with small amounts of marijuana would face a $150 civil fine. Police would confiscate the marijuana, but the incident would not appear on a person's criminal record.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. Catharine Leach is married and has two boys, age 2 and 8. She has a good job with a federal contractor and smokes pot most every day.

While she worries that her public support for marijuana decriminalization and legalization could cost her a job or bring the police to her door, the 30-year-old Warwick resident said she was tired of feeling like a criminal. Like others around the nation working to relax penalties for possession of pot, she decided to stop hiding and speak out.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Catharine Leach is married and has two boys, age 2 and 8. She has a good job with a federal contractor and smokes pot most every day.

While she worries that her public support for marijuana decriminalization and legalization could cost her a job or bring the police to her door, the 30-year-old Warwick resident said she was tired of feeling like a criminal for using a drug that she said is far less harmful than the glass of wine or can of beer enjoyed by so many others after a long day's work. Like others around the nation working to relax penalties for possession of pot, she decided to stop hiding and speak out.

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WOONSOCKET -- Sometimes painted as the Molly Hatchet of the Rhode Island medical marijuana movement, putting the axe to the state's three proposed compassion centers before they had a chance to open, U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says he just wants to make sure everyone knows where his office stands on the issue so there will be "no surprises" when, and if, a dispensary opens up.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee put the licensing of three compassion centers that had gone through two lengthy Department of Health application processes on hold after receiving a letter from Neronha saying the centers could be subject to raids and their employees subject to prosecution.

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Providence (AP)- Legislation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Rhode Island is heading to a hearing in the state Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hear from both sides of the legalization debate Tuesday at the Statehouse.

The proposal would lift the ban on possessing marijuana for anyone over the age of 21 and impose taxes and fees on the production and sale of marijuana.

The committee also plans to review legislation to decriminalize marijuana. That proposal would replace criminal penalties for the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a $150 fine.

Similar legislation is pending in the House. The proposals were also introduced last year but did not receive a vote.

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The feeling is all too common -- an overwhelming sense of dizziness, compounded by an inability to place one foot in front of the other without stumbling. While this experience is typically induced by heavy drinking, students could mimic the effects of high blood alcohol content using special "beer goggles" at an event Friday sponsored by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, Health Services and the Greek Council.

On a given day, the 15 to 20 members of Brown's chapter of SSDP may be found on the Main Green passing out flyers about the negative effects of government anti-drug efforts, at the Rhode Island State House protesting decisions they believe unfairly discriminate against drug users or in the basement of the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center educating students on the dangers of alcohol abuse.

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House Speaker Says He'll Petition Federal Government to See What State Needs to Do

PROVIDENCE ---- House Speaker Gordon D. Fox says he'll personally petition the U.S. Department of Justice to seek a way for Rhode Island to open the medical marijuana dispensaries that advocates have long sought.

"I plan on going to the federal government to ask them: what do you need it to look like?" the Providence Democrat said Tuesday. "Because I think it's been too long and there have been too many people waiting. ... I hear so many stories of people waiting for relief and they are not being addressed. They deserve better than that."

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A movement to legalize narcotics found local supporters during an Oct. 13 presentation at the Jamestown Philomenian Library. Some 30 islanders turned out to hear Jack Cole, a retired Garden State detective, deplore the failures of the U.S. war on drugs and his own role in a policy he eventually realized was disastrous.

As an undercover detective, Cole devoted 14 years to throwing drug dealers and users in jail, he said, but now thinks the effort did more harm than good. With four other retired police officers, he has started a grass roots movement to change the U.S. drug policy. The nonprofit organization, dubbed Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, boasts 50,000 members, Cole said.

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