LEGISLATORS OVERRIDE VETO, THEN BEGIN NEW SESSION

House Speaker William J. Murphy Welcomes the Legislators Back into
Session by Urging Them to Work Together and Put Petty Politics Aside.

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island became the 11th state yesterday to allow
the use of marijuana to ease the pain of people suffering from
serious and chronic illnesses such as AIDS and cancer.

Patients whose doctors or caregivers recommend marijuana will soon be
able to possess up to 12 plants, or 2.5 ounces of marijuana. The new
law protects them from arrest under state law, but does nothing to
stop federal prosecution, leaving some critics to call the measure
nothing more than a symbolic act.

The marijuana issue provided a dramatic start to the lawmakers' first
day back in the State House in six months.

This year's legislative session began with an almost festive
atmosphere. There were backslaps and smiles and tables full of food,
despite simmering election-year tensions, especially those between
House Speaker William J. Murphy's leadership team and an alliance of
Republicans and dissident Democrats.

Murphy, D-West Warwick, vowed in the coming months to tackle -- among
other things -- "responsible tax reform, a comprehensive energy
strategy, a fair and livable working wage."

"The issues that we will face in this session are the issues that
every Rhode Islander faces in their day-to-day lives," Murphy said.

BUT THE FOCUS yesterday was on marijuana.

Lawmakers had passed "medical marijuana" legislation in June, but the
measure was vetoed by Governor Carcieri. The Senate overrode the veto
the next day, but the House waited until yesterday to override,
easily doing so with a 59-to-13 vote. Three members were absent and
only 44 votes were needed for the override.

(Lawmakers have been officially on "recess" for the last six months,
allowing for the override before officially adjourning yesterday and
then opening a new session.)

"It's been a long wait and a lot of work, but this law will grant
mercy and relief to the sick and suffering. Finally Rhode Island will
stop denying sick people a proven means of relief from their pain,"
said the House sponsor, Rep. Thomas C. Slater, D-Providence, who has cancer.

Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence, the Senate sponsor, called it a
"progressive and compassionate piece of legislation." The bill
carries the name of Edward O. Hawkins, Perry's nephew who died of AIDS.

Persuading his colleagues for an override, Slater said "Ten states
have realized that it makes no sense in making people criminals for
following their doctor's advice and relieving their pain." In those
states, "The sky has not fallen and thousands of patients live in less pain."

House Minority Leader Robert A. Watson, R-East Greenwich, who
supported and voted for the bill in the past, said that in his heart
he wanted to pass the law but in the end he needed to stand behind
the governor. Only 6 of the 14 other House Republicans joined Watson,
voting to uphold the veto.

Carcieri's press secretary, Jeff Neal, said the governor continues to
oppose the measure, saying it will "encourage criminal activity
because it does not provide any means for the legal purchase of
medical marijuana."

The Republican governor's office also said that "the definition of
which medical conditions qualify one for use of marijuana is so broad
that it would allow nearly any Rhode Islander to be a user."

Carcieri has said the bill "is full of loopholes" including a lack of
standards for dosage and quality of the drugs, no legal source of the
drug or marijuana seeds and allows patients and their caregivers to
possess "staggering" amounts of marijuana.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy also weighed
in yesterday, saying that using marijuana is still against federal
laws and the Food and Drug Administration does not consider the drug
a safe and effective medicine for pain relief.

"It's largely symbolic. I don't think that it will have practical
effect," Tom Riley, a spokesman in the office, said of Rhode Island's law.

Riley also said that the vast majority of people who serve time for
marijuana possession are trafficking the drug.

Additionally, in June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws
permitting the medicinal use of marijuana do not supersede federal laws.

Ten states already have similar laws: Alaska, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

There are other states that have medical marijuana laws, but the
Marijuana Policy Project, which has been pushing for the law here,
says these 10 states are the only ones where the law makes a
practical difference. The Marijuana Policy Project works to
"minimize" laws that are intended to prohibit marijuana use.

Rhode Island, Hawaii and Vermont are the only three states where
medical marijuana came through legislative action. The other states
approved it through ballot initiatives.

The group's executive director, Rob Kampia, hailed yesterday's vote
- -- the first after the Supreme Court ruling -- as a major victory.

"We will continue to roll back the government's war on the sick and
dying and the White House drug czar can't stop us any more than he
can make water flow uphill," Kampia said in a statement.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH now has 90 days to create rules and
regulations regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Once those rules are in place, people looking to use marijuana must
first get a signed statement by a doctor stating that in their
opinion "the potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would
likely outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient."

The department then has 30 days to approve or deny the application
and another 5 days to then issue identification cards to those approved.

Anybody with such a card is immune from state criminal and civil
prosecution or any disciplinary action by employers as long as they
do not possess more than the allowed quantities.

The law does nothing to protect people from arrest or prosecution
under federal drug laws.

The plants must be stored in "an indoor facility." Authorized
caregivers cannot have a felony conviction in their past. The
Department of Health is required to report back to the legislature by
Jan. 1, 2007, on the number of people who availed themselves of the
program, and any problems arising from it. Unless lawmakers vote to
keep the program going, it will expire on June 30, 2007.

The legislation does not provide a way for people to get the drug,
leaving that to illegal channels.

AFTER PASSING THE marijuana legislation, lawmakers shifted to the
session ahead.

During an opening speech, Murphy more than once urged his colleagues
"to put aside petty politics and whatever personal agenda[s] we might
have in this election year and get down to doing the work that we
have been sent here to do."

"Let's do what's right, not what's politically expedient," Murphy
said. "And, please, this is an election year. Let's work for six
months together as a House of Representatives and worry about
politics in June."

Watson quipped in response: "I would hope that we don't rid the room
of all petty politics, because we do need to have some fun."

More seriously, Watson said: "A majority is judged best by how they
treat the minority."

Over in the Senate, lawmakers took the highly unusual step of
recommitting two bills that passed by both chambers last year but
were never transmitted to the governor's desk.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare said the bills were never given to
Carcieri because the Senate leadership tried, but failed, to work out
a compromise and avoid vetoes on the bills.

So yesterday, the Senate essentially killed off the bills by sending
them back to committee.

The first was a lobbying bill that would have exempted from
disclosures certain sales and purchases -- namely, transactions
carried out "in the ordinary course of business and for fair market
value" -- made by people and companies seeking to influence the
General Assembly.

The other would have allowed Beacon Mutual Insurance, the state's
dominant worker's compensation insurer, to expand beyond Rhode
Island's borders and go from a public nonprofit to a private
for-profit company.