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Children first,
and always.
H
ERE IN RHODE ISLAND, we take
allegiances seriously.
From Del’s to ‘Gansett , stuffi es to
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loyalti es run deep.
Visit Cardi’s Furniture &
Mattresses Rt. 2, West Warwick
to see Adoption Rhode Island’s
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This compelling exhibit features
portraits of children who are
waiting in state care for “forever
families” (families that will
adopt them). Through these
powerful images, witness
the spirit, the strength, the
innocence and the challenges
of these beautiful children.Visit
cardis.com for exhibit dates.
Adoption Rhode Island
That’s why it’s so hard to name a winner
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seemingly have it all.
And while the qualiti es that make those
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32 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l
JANUARY 2020
CityState: Reporter
Mayor Jasiel Correia with accepting
$600,000 in bribes from cannabis opera-
tors hoping to locate their businesses in
his city. Correia pleaded not guilty.
In Rhode Island, a who’s who of retired
CEOs, lobbyists and real estate developers
are lined up to grab what John Marion,
executive director of Common Cause
Rhode Island, calls “a Willy Wonka golden
ticket” to become the next marijuana
millionaire. Representative Charlene
Lima of Cranston is already suspicious.
“People seem to be spending a lot of
money buying buildings….” she says.
“Why would you expend so much capital
when you don’t even know if you are go-
ing to be one of the six? Any competent
businessman will tell you: To spend that
kind of money, you have to have some
reassurances that you are going to be
successful. It doesn’t pass the smell test.”
As the General Assembly returns to
Smith Hill this month, Rhode Island’s
marijuana policy appears to be less settled
than June’s sleight-of-hand suggests. In
November, the Department of Business
Regulations issued its proposed regula-
tions: The six new licenses would be
awarded via lottery and, a win for the
forty-five local cannabis cultivators, all
six would be barred from growing their
own crops for at least a year while regula-
tors determine industry demand. Both
Mattiello and Ruggerio promised thor-
ough reviews of the proposed regulations
— Mattiello told the Providence Journal
the new rules “may not be consistent with
the intent of the law passed by the General
Assembly and signed by the governor”
— and Newport Representative Lauren
Carson says legislators have a lot more
work to do.
“We should take a hard look — we are
creating an industry and that is not
something governments normally do and,
as such, we need to be sure that we are
tapping into the right ideas and right
resources so we can be of assistance to
the business community.”
And as the state tries to herd all can-
nabis consumers to the medical dispen-
saries, the effort to legalize marijuana
for adult use remains another unresolved
issue.
A year ago, Raimondo reluctantly
included a cannabis legalization scheme
so the state would not fall behind its