Rhode Island state lawmakers recessed the legislative session late Thursday leaving hundreds of bills, including a widely supported proposal to make marijuana legal for adults and regulate it similarly to alcohol, pending action. Legislative leaders have indicated they may call a special session in the fall to finish their agenda.

Representatives of Regulate Rhode Island will be joined by legislative supporters at a news conference Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET in front of the Rhode Island State House to call on House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D-Cranston) and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed (D-Newport) to support the bill to regulate marijuana like alcohol and allow House and Senate members to vote on it before the session ends this month.

Immediately following the news conference, the group will deliver nearly 500 postcards to Speaker Mattiello’s office. Each postcard is signed by one of his constituents and urges the speaker to support the bill.

I am currently in Uruguay, and it is an interesting experience. Uruguay doesn’t get a lot of tourists. There are more cows than people. Not too much to see, but in 2013, Uruguay did something seemingly incredible: it legalized recreational marijuana.

Uruguay was the first country in the world to legalize pot.  Unlike countries such as the Netherlands which merely decriminalized marijuana, Uruguay went for full legalization. With the new law, in theory, criminals no longer have a monopoly on the recreational marijuana market.

Typically, when a pot smoking hears the word regulation or legalization of marijuana, they lite up a joint in honor of liberty and freedom. Well, don’t lite up just yet. There are many flavors of this ice cream.

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015, Rhode Island’s legislature held a hearing for House Bill 6177, a bill proposing to legalize the growth and sale of hemp within the state. This hearing was scheduled to clear up any misconceptions regarding industrial hemp.

Hemp History

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Members of a church went to downtown Providence to show it is their constitutional right to use cannabis.

Services are normally held at the home of the church’s leader and former Rhode Island Gubernatorial candidate Anne Armstrong, but the group recently decided to pray publicly at the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence. Earlier this week, three members were cited for possessing a controlled substance.

Armstrong says, “This is a very important constitutional issue and if it can’t be decided here. I don’t think there is any hope for America frankly.”

ROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Members of a church that uses marijuana in its ceremonies are planning to hold a service at Roger Williams National Memorial.

The West Greenwich-based Healing Church says it’ll lead a ceremony at a well at the park at 8 p.m. Saturday, but members may be at the park as early as 4 p.m. to conduct a “circumambulation” of the park.

Church members this week have been praying at the North Main Street memorial and have received a permit to hold the service there.

Park officials have said the permit allows members of the church to assemble, but not to violate any laws. Church members say the 45-minute service is timed with the Hebrew holiday of Shavuot and the Christian eve of Pentecost.

"The proportion of Rhode Islanders entering substance abuse treatment primarily due to marijuana use has reached its highest point in 20 years."

— Kathleen Sullivan on Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee

When the House Judiciary Committee was considering legislation to tax and regulate marijuana, Kathleen Sullivan, Warren’s substance abuse coordinator, stepped forward to warn the committee about the dangers of marijuana use.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A group supporting the legalization of marijuana got their message across to thousands of Rhode Islanders — by putting it on a billboard.

On Tuesday, “Regulate Rhode Island” unveiled a new billboard on Orms Street in Providence.

The board touts the potential economic impact of legalized marijuana — the group claims regulating and taxing the drug would attract new business and jobs to the state.

The group cited a similar law in Colorado.

I have never been fired from a job before, but I’d imagine it sucks very badly. I have quit jobs in the past, but I’ve never been terminated. If I was terminated for being a horrible employee, then I think I would be more accepting. But if I was fired for something that was unfair, I would be very upset about it. For instance, if I was fired for using a medicine that is legal in the state that I worked in, I would be extremely upset.

A new Public Policy Poll shows a majority of Rhode Islanders are supportive of regulating and taxing marijuana similar to alcohol.

The survey conducted from April 6 to April 14, sampled 763 Rhode Island voters and found 57 percent were in favor of changing the Ocean State’s marijuana policies; 35 percent of those surveyed disapproved of marijuana legislation and eight percent said they were unsure. Of the Rhode Islanders sampled, 51 percent identified as politically independent and 83 percent were white.