The push is on to make recreational marijuana use legal in Rhode Island.
The pro-legalization campaign says it's an economic imperative. The expectation is that a tax-revenue bonanza would help ameliorate the state's persistent budget shortfalls, in addition to creating a new industry sector.
Proponents also say that if Massachusetts beats Rhode Island to the punch, all that potential revenue will evaporate. But not every public-policy decision should be predicated on short-term financial considerations.
Excessive use of any drug, whether marijuana or alcohol, can destroy lives. But addictive behavior is not the only red flag here.
As recently as 2014, Rhode Island was deemed to have the highest rate of monthly marijuana use in the nation, according to federal data. Imagine what full-throated legalization would bring. And while tax revenue is a nice potential byproduct of legalization, it might make sense to look at another state issue of importance – the quality of its workforce.
When General Dynamics Electric Boat started ramping up hiring at its North Kingstown facility a couple years ago, a significant issue was finding enough Rhode Island candidates who passed the drug screening. Would that issue improve with easier access to pot? It is also not clear what the long-term effects of easy access to marijuana would have on children's mental health or intellectual development.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo has said that more study should be done, and that is a sensible approach. •
If the sale and recreational use of marijuana is legalized in Rhode Island, Rhode Island should tax and regulate the use of marijuana like tobacco, not like alcohol. Alcohol is found in most homes and businesses in Rhode Island where children are present. This leads to children becoming addicted to alcohol. To protect our children from being exposed to marijuana, Rhode Island should control the growth, production, distribution, type, quality and sale of marijuana products. Private individuals would not be allowed to grow or use marijuana in public establishments. Legal marijuana would be sold for the private recreational use of adults. Marijuana products would only be sold in vending machines owned and serviced by the state of Rhode Island and payment would have to be made with a personal credit card. The quality, strength and amounts sold each week would be regulated. Giving marijuana to children would be punishable by a fine of $1,000.00. Legal marijuana would available at thousands of locations in Rhode Island and at a lower price than illegal marijuana. The profits and taxes raised would fully fund education, healthcare and bridge repair in Rhode Island.
No amount of tax revenue could reconcile the damage to our children, increased addictions, traffic accidents, etc.
Our young people deal with alcohol, cigarettes, social media, etc., etc. Making marijuana legal will most certainly
be an encouragement to those who would not get it illegally. Let those who want it pay more and work harder
to get the drug. Thank you
Jane are you aware that you can not get physically addicted to Marijuana? Are you also aware that caffeine, which happens to be legal, can kill you if you overdose but it is impossible to overdose on marijuana?
As far as traffic accidents go, a study was performed on the effect of marijuana on a drivers ability to properly maneuver and the following was one of their conclusions:
“Experienced smokers who drive on a set course show almost no functional impairment under the influence of marijuana, except when it is combined with alcohol.”
Now you might say that you don’t trust the source of information or me, well I openly invite you to read the results of the study yourself on the GOVERNMENT web site that it is hosted on. The site is as follows: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/
Jane, you are speaking out of total ignorance and emotional bias. You have unquestionably believed all of the false propaganda about the natural plant that is safer than caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. You can die from an over dose of caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol but you can not die from an overdose of marijuana.
In closing, if you are going to stand on a soapbox and start to yell about something with confidence that you have the facts straight, be sure to fact check yourself with peer reviewed studies and not just yelling your knee jerk subjective opinions based on lies that you have been force fed. You are fighting against something that will provide people with an alternative to alcohol. The alternative makes people less hostile and has been proven in studies to have minimal effects on a drivers ability to properly maneuver. If marijuana was made legal, there would be less violent crime, less accidents, and most likely a reduction of addition to alcohol. So if you really care about the topics you listed, maybe you should consider supporting the cause as opposed to fighting against it.