The two state lawmakers who have long led the charge to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island on Tuesday said they have clear majority support in both chambers to pass their bills — if the House and Senate leadership allow the legislation a vote.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The two state lawmakers who have long led the charge to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island on Tuesday said they have clear majority support in both chambers to pass their bills — if the House and Senate leadership allow the legislation a vote.

"If we do not act, our neighbor to the north will be thrilled," Rep. Scott Slater said, referring to Massachusetts, where marijuana became legal earlier this year.

Slater and Sen. Joshua Miller also took aim at Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, who has embarked on an aggressive municipal-level anti-legalization campaign, saying that the state's top prosecutor is spreading misinformation.

"I warned him that the data they're using is inaccurate. I feel that his presentations to cities and towns [have] veered off from being totally accurate on what the legislation intends to do," said Miller, a Cranston Democrat.

The bills give cities and towns the ability to block various types of marijuana businesses by referendum, an issue that Miller said Kilmartin isn't properly explaining. Previous versions of the bill have not addressed such local control.

Kilmartin spokeswoman Amy Kempe disputed Miller's statements, saying the information in the attorney general's presentations is "properly cited from legitimate and widely regarded expert sources."

"It is an inconvenient truth for 'big marijuana' that the legislation they are proposing would require cities and towns to opt out of the recreational market through a referendum, a costly and time-consuming process for communities," Kempe said.

As for legislative support, last year Miller also said that there was majority support in the House and Senate to legalize marijuana, but the legislation never saw a vote. In fact, marijuana legalization bills have been introduced in Rhode Island every year since 2011, but none have made it out of committee.

But Miller said support has grown since last year. The House bill is sponsored by 25 of 75 representatives. The Senate bill is sponsored by 15 of 38 senators. Others, Miller said, don't want to publicly back the bills but have pledged their support.

"We have this group of people that feel it's not necessarily what their focus is, but they feel that if it came to a floor vote, they would support it," Miller said. "That group of people has expanded every year."

This year's marijuana legalization bills have also picked up new support from some high-profile lawmakers, including Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin, D-Providence, House Majority Whip John G. Edwards, D-Tiverton, and Deputy Speaker Charlene Lima, D-Cranston. Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, D-North Providence, is also a sponsor.

Meanwhile, competing bills that would punt marijuana legalization to a study commission have emerged this year. The bills sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Coyne, D-Barrington, and Rep. Dennis Canario, D-Portsmouth, both retired from law enforcement careers, were praised by Kilmartin at a news conference earlier this month.

Slater, D-Providence, called the study commission push part of a new "thought process to try to slow us down."

"We don't need more study groups. This isn't new territory anymore," said Elizabeth Comery, a former Providence police officer who was at the State House Tuesday in support of marijuana legalization.

Whether the legalization bills will be acted on this year remains to be seen.

"After a public hearing is held in the House Judiciary Committee, the speaker will review the testimony," House spokesman Larry Berman said in response to a question about where House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello stands in the debate.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare did not respond to a request for comment on Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed's position.

— jbogdan@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @JenniferBogdan