Marijuana legalization is sure to come up quickly once legislators return to Smith Hill in January. Jared Moffat, director of the pro-legalization group Regulate Rhode Island, said a legalization bill will be introduced almost certainly in the first month of session.

Rhode Island could see $10 million to $15 million in revenue in its first year if the state legalizes marijuana, Gov. Gina Raimondo said in an interview with The Providence Journal about the upcoming General Assembly session.

Her comments marked the first time the state has publicly talked about its own revenue estimates for a legalized marijuana market. But Raimondo cautioned those numbers do not reflect significant additional money the state would have to spend on regulators, additional public safety and prevention programs.

And if the governor had it her way, talking about marijuana legalization would not be on her to-do list.

"It hasn't been a priority of mine. But ... now that Massachusetts has gone first I think we do need to take some time early in the year to figure out what we should do," Raimondo said.

Matt Sheaff, a spokesman for the Department of Business Regulation, called the revenue projection the governor referenced a "back-of-the-napkin" estimate and said it was too soon to talk about any specific tax rate.

"This is not something we should be rushing into or that the governor intends to include her budget," Sheaff said.

But the issue is sure to come up quickly once legislators return to Smith Hill in January. Jared Moffat, director of the pro-legalization group Regulate Rhode Island, said a marijuana legalization bill will be introduced almost certainly in the first month of session.

Moffat said that under previous legalization proposals, which suggested taxing marijuana at $50 an ounce, Regulate Rhode Island projected $40 million to $60 million in revenue a few years in after the market has ramped up. The group has since discovered that weight-based taxes can pose challenges, and this year's proposal will likely include a flat sales tax.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the ACLU of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC) took issue with new regulations intended to tighten the reins on the state's medical marijuana program starting Jan. 1. The program now includes more than 16,360 patients.

Calling the regulations unnecessary and burdensome, both the ACLU and RIPAC said they are prepared to have legislation filed next year to overturn the rules.

The groups are citing several concerns, including a regulation requiring patients to see their physicians at least twice a year and turn over all relevant medical records documenting the patient's medical condition. The regulations, they say, don't address how patient confidentiality will be handled and come with a significant financial burden that could drive patients to the black market.

"It is both ironic and deeply disturbing that even as the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in Rhode Island seems ever more likely, the state is putting completely unnecessary and burdensome obstacles in the way of those who need to use the drug for medicinal purposes," the state's ACLU director, Steven Brown, said.

"In a few years, it will probably be easier for a healthy millennial to legally purchase marijuana than for a sick patient to do so."

The groups are also taking issue with a regulation that allows a patient to designate an "authorized purchaser" intended to help sick patients who have difficulty leaving home. The purchaser can buy marijuana from one of the three dispensaries, but requires $135 in registration and background check fees, the groups said in a statement. JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of RIPAC, said it's "insulting" to charge someone for being "helpful and kind."

The state is also closing a loophole that allowed out-of-state residents to act as "caregivers" for Rhode Island's marijuana patients. A Providence Journal investigation found that roughly 45 people in Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut had been issued Rhode Island caregiver cards.

Leppanen said in some of those cases, caregivers have rented space to grow in Rhode Island but reside out of state. Forcing them out of the program creates problems for patients who rely on those growers for medicine, she said.

"Right now I can live in Massachusetts and grow six plants just because I want to, and yet Rhode Island is making it harder for patients to get their medicine," Leppanen said. "The governor said she wanted to clean up the program. The question is why are you taking patients and pushing people out into the illegal market?"

jbogdan@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @JenniferBogdan