Rhode Island roils over medmar bill

The NYT picks up the story on the Rhode Island medical marijuana bill. The Times, like every other media account, notes the ONDCP connection to the governor's veto. Otherwise, there's not a lot of new information but there are several new quotes. This one is typical law enforcement response to compassionate treatment of medmar patients.

"We may very well see counterfeit registration cards, and then it becomes a quandary to figure out who legally possesses it with a card and which cards are false," said Maj. Joseph R. Miech of the Rhode Island State Police.

Becomes a quandary? Like it's a quandary to figure out if someone has a fake driver's license for instance. For God's sake, there will be a computerized database and the cards will likely be encoded in some way. All they have to do is check the registry to see if the card is valid, much as they do for other information in traffic stops. The only thing it will do is cut down on easy busts and make hippie profiling on the highway less like shooting fish in a barrel.

Meanwhile, drug policy reformers in Rhode Island advise that Gov. Donald L. Carcieri is shooting himself in the foot with this veto. The ONDCP's influence is well noted by the public and the bill has the support of the state medical and nurses societies, 69 percent of voters, and an overwhelming majority in the legislature.

One hopes the silver lining will come when the voters decide to kick the "out of touch with the electorate" bums like Carcieri out of office.