R.I. Gov. Chafee signs into law decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana

[kpete]

Source: Providence Journal

R.I. Gov. Chafee signs into law decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana

June 13, 2012 6:30 pm By Mike McKinney

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island is joining the list of states that are decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana, after Governor Chafee signed the measure into law Wednesday.

The law, which takes effect April 1, 2013, says possessing an ounce or less will become a civil violation with a $150 fine, akin to a ticket. It also states that three such violations within 18 months would be a misdemeanor with larger fines and/or prison.

Half of collected fines are to be spent on drug-awareness and -treatment programs for youths.
Offenders under age 18 will have parents notified, have to complete a court-approved or juvenile hearing board-approved drug-awareness program, and do community service.

Failure to do those within a year would increase the fine to $300.

Read more: http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/06/ri-gov-chafee-s-6.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. Proud to be the first K&R

[Marrah_G]

2. Good for you Gov Chafee

[MrSlayer]

3. It's a start.

Good for Rhode Island.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Wait till the DoJ takes him to court

It'll be fabulous.

[MADem]

10. Why would they do that? nt

[magic59]

5. The billions dollar private prison industry wont like that

They depend on those chicken chit laws to fill their prisons. Governor Chafee will be on their hit list next election, say he's soft on crime, a bad influence on our youth.

[XemaSab]

6. Why is Rhode Island suddenly the bastion of sanity, both with this and the homeless?

Anyway, good for them.

[loudsue]

8. That's what I was thinking!!! We all may have to move to RI

I'm starting to like Rhode Island almost as much as Vermont!!

[MADem]

12. They're in the shithouse. They're having terrible fiscal problems.

It ain't all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows in the land of Peter Griffin. A wingnutty Bush-touting sports asshole (why do they come to Boston?) who went out of his way to tout that GOP lout is now whining that he didn't get a "big enough" government bailout from RI to keep his crappy little enterprise afloat:

http://theweek.com/article/index/228749/how-curt-schilling-pushed-rhode-island-into-a-budget-crisis

How did Rhode Island get involved with Schilling's company?
In a bid to attract tech companies to the state, Rhode Island approved $75 million in loan guarantees in 2010 to Schilling's company 38 Studios. But the deal was risky, most notably because 38 Studios specializes in massive-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), which, as the name suggests, involves thousands of different players inhabiting a virtual universe. The MMORPG is "an extremely expensive genre with a very mixed track record of financial success," says Ken Sweet at CNN.

Why did the state agree to the deal?
The investment is a head-scratcher. "It is hard to understand why this happened, except that a couple of well-connected people" made some money, and "Curt Schilling is a sports folk hero in the area," says Alex Pareene at Salon. Adding insult to injury, Rhode Island approved the deal even though 38 Studios had never produced a single video game.

What went wrong?
Things seemed to be going well for the company at first: In 2012, 38 Studios released one game — Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning — that sold a respectable number of units. But its biggest investment, the yet-to-be released Project Copernicus, was a money vacuum that was reportedly burning through $4 million a month. In May, 38 Studios missed a $1 million loan payment, and it defaulted on a government-backed loan. Things spiraled out of control after that: Gov. Lincoln Chafee declared that the company might be insolvent, and soon after 38 Studios laid off all 400 of its employees.

What's the total damage?
Rhode Island is on the hook for more than $112 million when you combine the principal of the loans, the interest, and fees, says Sweet. Rhode Island also essentially owns 38 Studios, which, if sold, is expected to fetch a market price of around $20 million — not nearly enough to reimburse taxpayers.

[Marrah_G]

15. LOL- I wouldn't go that far :)

Some good improvements though!

[Stardust]

9. And let's not forget about the fantastic Senator Whitehouse. Rhode Island...who knew?!?!?

[JI7]

7. Obama knew what he was doing when he refused to endorse the Dem over Chafee

[pacalo]

11. He's a good man.

[blackspade]

13. Not that I don't consider the overall sentiment of the law a plus...

but this portion of the story bothered me:

"Offenders under age 18 will have parents notified, have to complete a court-approved or juvenile hearing board-approved drug-awareness program, and do community service.'"

It seems to me that they have created a two tiered system of penelties.
For adults it appears that there is mearly a fine with the potential for greater ones if you continue to get caught.
For juveniles there is a whole host of penelties, the least of which is parental notification.
Seriously, with the other punishments in the line up what kid is going to worry about what his parents think.

[Marrah_G]

16. Just like with alcohol there are different rules for minors.

[bupkus]

14. We need one true leader to just end this ridiculous prohibition already

Reschedule Cannabis then legalize it. End this insanity. And please don't tell me it can't be done. If Nixon could create the "War on Drugs" and the DEA with a few strokes of his pen then a true leader could end them the very same way.

[4th law of robotics]

17. It's going to be a nightmare

Blood will run in the streets.

Haven't they seen those commercials where people get high on pot then shoot their friend in the face or run over some little girl (oddly riding her bike in a mcdonalds parking lot) in their mad quest for munchies?

This will turn RI in to a holocaust of Madmaxian proportions just like Amsterdam.

[hrmjustin]

18. Chafee is a great politician.

When he lost his senate race he had a 63% approval rating. He only lost because he had an R next to his name. Whitehouse who beat him has turned out to be a great senator.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kudos to the the great state of Rhode Island for a taking a step in the right direction,

now work to legalize cannabis.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[Odin2005]

20. The last of the Liberal Republicans.

BRAVO, Governor Chafee!!!

[lsewpershad]

21. Good news

Now lets move forward.