A year ago, Statehouse Democratic leaders made it clear weeks before lawmakers opened the 2020 legislative session that they were not ready to support legalizing adult recreational marijuana use.
This was welcome news to local business groups that have long opposed the move.
But a pandemic-induced recession has changed the minds of many of those same political leaders. They have signaled they are ready to at least consider the idea, which Gov. Gina M. Raimondo included in her fiscal 2021 budget plan.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a new budget for the current fiscal year, though the debate over legalizing recreational marijuana use is expected occur in next year’s legislative session.
Raimondo had proposed allowing recreational marijuana sales through state-run dispensaries, similar to the state-run liquor stores found in New Hampshire.
