Though Rhode Island decriminalized marijuana in April of last year, more drastic state action could be the on the horizon. The Marijuana Policy Project, an organization set on working state by state to progressively change marijuana laws, is leading the cause, and Karen O’Keefe, the organization’s director of state policies, recently identified Rhode Island as one of the 10 new states where it will attempt to have marijuana legalized. We wholeheartedly support this endeavor, as legalization would certainly help ameliorate Rhode Island’s flagging economy.
Rhode Island is already projected to be one of the next states to legalize marijuana, and it is clear the policy has support in the state. The question of legalization has arisen in the past three sessions of the state General Assembly, championed in particular by House Rep. Edith Ajello D-Providence, chair of the judiciary committee. In addition, a poll from last January found that 52 percent of respondents support legalization. Though such a measure has not yet passed, we believe the history and context surrounding this policy render the state ripe for a renewed effort to legalize marijuana.
At the state level, advocates understand legalizing marijuana would go a long way toward reviving Rhode Island’s struggling economy. While the state currently spends resources attempting to prevent illegal marijuana traffic and use, it earns no income from taxation. The proposed legalization bill calls for a “$50 per ounce excise tax at the wholesale level, as well as a sales tax that would increase the state’s revenue.” Rhode Island’s economy is consistently ranked among the worst in the nation.
Simultaneously, consumer demand for marijuana is high: The state has the nation’s highest rate of illicit drug and marijuana use. Rather than continue to fruitlessly fight marijuana use, the state should tax the sale of the drug so that it may use the revenue to bolster important but underfunded programs, such as public education.
Legalizing marijuana would boost Rhode Island’s suffering economy, both freeing and creating valuable resources the state could devote to worthwhile endeavors. As residents of the state, Brown students should understand the value of legalizing marijuana and add their voices to the chorus calling for such reform. We strongly hope the Rhode Island state legislature examines the benefits of legalization, and we urge lawmakers to implement this progressive policy.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Rachel Occhiogrosso, and its members, Daniel Jeon, Hannah Loewentheil and Thomas Nath. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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