As marijuana legalization sweeps the nation, Rhode Island could very well be one of the next states to go green. Experts say the state is among several that may end marijuana prohibition in 2016. A bill to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island, introduced in the state Legislature in January, will likely be debated next year. 

As marijuana legalization sweeps the nation, Rhode Island could very well be one of the next states to . Experts say the state is among several that may end marijuana prohibition in 2016. A bill to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island, introduced in the state Legislature in January, will likely be debated next year. 

Mike Rego’s path to the medical marijuana industry is unique. In a former life as a Newport, Rhode Island police officer (and later narcotics detective), he arrested cannabis producers – now he protects them.

His career in law enforcement began in 1993 as an officer for the Newport Police Department. In 1998 he was promoted to narcotics detective, a role he served in until 2010 when he was forced to retire following “numerous” knee surgeries. In an effort to treat his injuries he began acupuncture and it was his acupuncturist who ultimately approached him about working on a medical dispensary venture in Rhode Island.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

I’m excited that Rhode Island, my recently adopted home state, might become the first on the East Coast to legalize a commercial marijuana market. And not just for the obvious reasons, such as changing a war on drugs that disproportionately targets people of color or the option of purchasing and smoking marijuana without fear of jail time.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — It’s been two years since Rhode Island launched its medical marijuana market and opened dispensaries around the state, but tax revenues haven’t been quite as high as state officials expected.

There are now three medical marijuana dispensaries — also known as compassion centers — selling pot to patients in Rhode Island, with the state collecting a 4 percent surcharge and a 7 percent sales tax on all their sales. While revenues are increasing, some compassion centers say they’re facing increasing competition from caregivers who can grow and sell medical marijuana without paying taxes to the state.

PROVIDENCE — It has been two years since Rhode Island launched its medical marijuana market and opened dispensaries around the state, but tax revenues haven’t been quite as high as state officials expected.

There are now three medical marijuana dispensaries — also known as compassion centers — selling marijuana to patients in Rhode Island, with the state collecting a 4 percent surcharge and a 7 percent sales tax on all their transactions. While revenues are increasing, some centers say they’re facing increasing competition from caregivers who can grow and sell medical marijuana without paying taxes to the state.

1. Ohio - Ohio voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to legalize marijuana with a constitutional amendment to institute a revolutionary proposal that backers say will create a billion-dollar industry in the next four years.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said Wednesday the private investor group ResponsibleOhio had collected 320,267 signatures of registered Ohio voters, 14,676 more than necessary to qualify for the general-election ballot. ResponsibleOhio spent more than $2 million since March on the petition drive to put its proposed Marijuana Legalization Amendment before voters.

A Rhode Island judge on Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges a textile company discriminated against a graduate student when she was denied a two-month internship because she uses medical marijuana to treat migraine headaches.

Lawyers for Westerly-based Darlington Fabrics Corp. and its parent firm, Moore Company, told Providence Superior Court Judge Richard Licht that the company declined to hire Christine Callaghan based on her use of medical marijuana, not on her status as a medical marijuana cardholder, making a distinction between the two.

Attorney Tim Cavazza, who represents Darlington Fabrics, said an employer is not required under the state's medical marijuana act to accommodate or condone medical marijuana use.

R.I. — The number of patients enrolled in the state's medical marijuana program has exploded in the past two and half years, more than doubling from 4,849 in 2013 to 11,620 today.

As of the beginning of this year, there were 684 physicians in the state providing certifications for medical marijuana patients, up from 512 in 2013, or a 33 percent increase over two years.

But while those numbers have skyrocketed, the number of people the state has devoted to the program's oversight — the licensing of patients and all those allowed to grow marijuana — has not changed.