By overwhelming margins, the legislature approved a bill to allow people with specific serious and terminal illnesses to possess small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes, if authorized by a physician. The bill further immunizes physicians from liability for discussing with patients the pros and cons of the use of medical marijuana. The Governor vetoed the legislation, but there is a good chance the General Assembly will override the veto. If and when that happens, Rhode Island will become the eleventh state to authorize the medical use of marijuana. Support for the legislation, initially introduced with ACLU backing five years ago, has been growing every year.
