KENT COUNTY DAILY TIMES
"Halfway Doesn't Count"
This certainly is a blue state.Only somewhere so liberal - or progressive, whichever one prefers - as Rhode Island could a legislature buck the political wisdom that traditionally says being soft on drugs is bad in every scenario. There's something very bold about a General Assembly that would put aside decades of scare-mongering propaganda and acknowledge marijuana - long demonized as a scourge of the youth and unmotivated - might actually have legitimate and supportable uses.
So we'll pass along our kudos to the General Assembly for making permanent its legalization of medical marijuana for certain patients suffering pain that can't truly be mitigated in any other way. That the common recreational use of the drug has attached to it such a pervasive stigma as to make even doctors reluctant to acknowledge its medical benefits is simply sad; that legislators could look past the stigma is wholeheartedly encouraging.
Here's a drug that even in its unregulated form is often far less potentially hazardous than many of the others doctors and pharmacists are free to dole out as they see fit. Yet the idea of applying its benefits to those most in need of pain relief has for so long fallen victim to the War on Drugs that we've almost forgotten how comparatively benign marijuana can be.
Yet still, Rhode Island's legislature falls short of truly legitimizing what its members acknowledge is a legitimate use for the drug - because the law provides no legal mechanism for distribution or regulation. It tells patients in pain it's OK if they're caught with a manageable amount of marijuana on their person, but they'll need to traverse the seedier side of society to actually obtain the stuff. Forget regulation or testing that's absolutely key to drug safety - the black market isn't known for its rigorous quality control standards. The neighbor's punk kid might be able to tell you who has the hook-up, but don't expect your dime bag to include a nice federally mandated label with appropriate warnings and an honest breakdown of what's inside.
Legislators say they're afraid of running afoul of federal law, and that by legalizing distribution they'd draw the attention of the heavy-handed federal government. But "wink-wink, nod-nod" doesn't make for good medicine, and it certainly doesn't make for good public policy. If Rhode Island's legislators truly believe medical marijuana can be valuable to the people of the Ocean State, they've got to stand up to the federal government and demand a change. Until then, we're dealing with half-measures that might help some, but put others at unnecessary risk - and that's simply unacceptable.