Claim: The proportion of Rhode Islanders entering substance abuse treatment primarily due to marijuana use has reached its highest point in 20 years.
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Cannabis in Rhode Island
text: "Approved Qualifying Debilitating Medical Conditions" for medical marijuana are: cancer, glacoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, or a "chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following": cachexia (wasting syndrome); "severe, debilitating, chronic pain"; "severe nausea"; epilepsy or other seizures; "severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease"; and Alzheimer's disease-related agitation. In June 2009, Rhode Island introduced a cannabis dispensary system, making them the second state nationwide (after California) to do so. In October 2016, there were 15,470 patients in Rhode Island,

title: Cannabis in Rhode Island
text: Cannabis in Rhode Island In the U.S. state of Rhode Island, marijuana has been legal statewide for medical use, within state regulations, since 2006. However, the possession of marijuana for recreational use remains illegal. Several proposals to legalize the drug have been advanced in the Rhode Island General Assembly, but none have succeeded. Rhode Island first banned the sale of cannabis without a prescription in 1918. As of 2012, Rhode Island had some of the strictest mandatory minimums for large-scale cannabis possession in the United States. Possession of more than 5 kg results in a sentence of 20 years' imprisonment

title: Cannabis in Rhode Island
text: a recent Brown University poll showing 55% of state residents support legalization. A February 2017 poll showed 59% of Rhode Islanders in favor of full legalization. In 2006 Rhode Island legalized medical marijuana, becoming the eleventh state to do so. The legislation was passed the year in 2005, winning approval in the state House by a vote of 52-10 and the state Senate by a vote of 33-1. Republican Governor Don Carcieri vetoed the legislation, but the Legislature overrode the veto, by a vote of 59–13 in the state House and 28-6 in the state Senate. Under Rhode Island law,

title: Cannabis in Rhode Island
text: along with three dispensaries (which are permitted to grow marijuana for their patients' use). The Healing Church in Rhode Island is a Rhode Island-based religious sect whose adherents believe that marijuana is a "holy herb" and use it in religious rituals. Cannabis in Rhode Island In the U.S. state of Rhode Island, marijuana has been legal statewide for medical use, within state regulations, since 2006. However, the possession of marijuana for recreational use remains illegal. Several proposals to legalize the drug have been advanced in the Rhode Island General Assembly, but none have succeeded. Rhode Island first banned the sale

title: Cannabis in Rhode Island
text: and fines of between $25,000 and $100,000. Bills to legalize marijuana have been introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly every year since 2011, but have to date been "held for further study" with no action. The group Regulate Rhode Island (the state affiliate of the Marijuana Policy Project) advocates for legalization. Following the success of recreational cannabis ballot initiatives in four states and the District of Columbia in 2012 and 2014, advocates in Rhode Island, where there is no public ballot initiative process, pressed their legislature to allow a public vote on legalizing recreational cannabis. In 2016 advocates cited

title: Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition
text: medical reasons. In 2006, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the "Medical Marijuana Act" and established the "Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Program." The Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act allows licensed patients to legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and 12 plants and 12 seedlings. The Act also allows licensed patients to appoint up to two caregivers to assist them in obtaining and cultivating medical cannabis within the limits set forth in law. In 2009, the law was amended to include the licensing of compassion centers to provide patients with increased access to medical marijuana.

title: Cannabis use disorder
text: treatment, lack of motivation and knowledge of treatment facilities, an overall lack of facilities, costs associated with treatment, difficulty meeting program eligibility criteria and transport difficulties. In the US, , cannabis is the most commonly identified illicit substance used by people admitted to treatment facilities. Demand for treatment for cannabis use disorder increased internationally between 1995 and 2002. In the United States, the average adult who seeks treatment has consumed cannabis for over 10 years almost daily and has attempted to quit six or more times. No medications have been found effective for cannabis dependence as of 2014, but psychotherapeutic

title: Marijuana Policy Project
text: 2006, the Rhode Island Legislature overwhelmingly overrode Gov. Donald Carcieri’s veto of MPP’s bill to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest, making Rhode Island the 11th medical marijuana state. This was the first state medical marijuana law to be enacted over the veto of a governor. In June 2009, the Rhode Island Legislature again overwhelmingly overrode Gov. Carcieri’s veto of MPP’s bill to create "compassion centers" to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients, making Rhode Island the second state (after New Mexico) to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensing. In June 2012, the Rhode Island Legislature passed and Gov. Lincoln

title: War on drugs
text: percent for prevention. The state of New York, in particular, designated 17 percent of its budget towards substance-abuse-related spending. Of that, a mere one percent was put towards prevention, treatment, and research. In a survey taken by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it was found that substance abusers that remain in treatment longer are less likely to resume their former drug habits. Of the people that were studied, 66 percent were cocaine users. After experiencing long-term in-patient treatment, only 22 percent returned to the use of cocaine. Treatment had reduced the number of cocaine abusers by two-thirds.

title: Healing Church in Rhode Island
text: Healing Church in Rhode Island The Healing Church in Rhode Island is a Rhode Island-based religious sect whose adherents believe that cannabis (or marijuana) is a "holy herb" and use it in religious rituals. Leaders of the group attracted attention in 2015 for attempting to smoke marijuana in front of the Roger Williams National Memorial (a memorial to Roger Williams, a pioneer of religious freedom and one of the smallest National Parks) as part of a religious service. One of the church members said that bhang was consumed during the service on federal property, to avoid a no-smoking rule. The

title: Cannabis in the United States Virgin Islands
text: of FY2002. The percentage of drug-related federal sentences that were marijuana-related in Puerto Rico and the USVI in FY2001 was significantly lower than the national percentage. According to USSC data, 3.0 percent of drug-related federal sentences in Puerto Rico and 6.7 percent of drug-related federal sentences in the USVI were marijuana-related compared with 32.8 percent nationally. The level of violence directly attributed to marijuana distribution in Puerto Rico and the USVI is low. However, distributors who sell marijuana often distribute other drugs, including cocaine and heroin, and commit violent crimes to protect their territory. Cannabis also is cultivated--primarily outdoors--in the

title: Charlie Baker
text: dispensary in Leicester. As of October 29, 2018, 179 towns in Massachusetts have either permanent bans (84) or moratoriums (95) currently in place on retail marijuana stores. In February 2015, Baker announced the formation of a working group to write a report formulating a statewide strategy to address the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts, which was released in June 2015. In the same month of the report's release, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health began a public awareness campaign on opioid addiction, and Baker announced a $34.5 million proposal following the working group's recommendations that included a $5.8 million program to

title: Cannabis use disorder
text: used cannabis. an estimated 9% of those who use cannabis develop dependence. 34.8% of Australians aged 14 years and over have used cannabis one or more times in their life. In the United States, 42% have used cannabis. In the U.S., cannabis is the most commonly identified illicit substance used by people admitted to treatment facilities. Most of these people were referred there by the criminal justice system. 16% of admittees either went on their own, or were referred by family or friends. There is a high prevalence of cannabis use in the US. Cannabis dependence develops in 9% users,

title: John Edwards (Rhode Island politician)
text: Toll Fellow. In his freshman year, Rep Edwards was able to push through legislation that would increase the fines on industrial polluters from $1,000/day to $25,000/day in response to an environmental problem that occurred in the Bay Street area of his district in 2002. In 2012 Rhode Island became the 15th state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana under legislation championed by Rep Edwards. The major legislation that Edwards is responsible for is stopping the toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge that spans both towns represented by Edwards, Tiverton & Portsmouth. Included in the 2015 RI Budget, Edwards

title: Rhode Island
text: United States to pass legislation to allow the use of medical marijuana. Additionally, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed civil unions, and it was signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee on July 2, 2011. Rhode Island became the eighth state to fully recognize either same-sex marriage or civil unions. Same-sex marriage became legal on May 2, 2013, and took effect August 1. Rhode Island has some of the highest taxes in the country, particularly its property taxes, ranking seventh in local and state taxes, and sixth in real estate taxes. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population

title: Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition
text: The Act allows any Rhode Island citizen/resident who suffers from one of the qualifying conditions and whose physician is supportive of their use of cannabis to treat that condition. The qualifying conditions include cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and hepatitis C, as well as the treatment of a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: On March 28, 2017, the "Legislative Oversight Commission of the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act" met for the first time, to have

title: Healing Church in Rhode Island
text: following year, two leaders of the group were arrested and charged in connection with a marijuana grow operation. Days before the arrest, the pair had filed a lawsuit in federal district court, contending that enforcement of state anti-marijuana laws against those who use marijuana for religious purposes violates the U.S. Constitution. Healing Church in Rhode Island The Healing Church in Rhode Island is a Rhode Island-based religious sect whose adherents believe that cannabis (or marijuana) is a "holy herb" and use it in religious rituals. Leaders of the group attracted attention in 2015 for attempting to smoke marijuana in front

title: Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States
text: the Connecticut Law Revision Commission examined states that had decriminalized cannabis and found any increase in cannabis usage was less than the increase in states that have not decriminalized cannabis; furthermore, the commission stated "the largest proportionate increase [of cannabis use] occurred in those states with the most severe penalties." The study recommended Connecticut reduce cannabis possession of 28.35 grams (one ounce) or less for adults age 21 and over to a civil fine. In 1999, a study by the Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at the Institute of Medicine entitled "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base", concluded

title: Modern social statistics of Native Americans
text: help for marijuana addiction increased from 1,119 to 2,147 from 2003 to 2007. It is a potentially alarming statistic in the face of declining rates of reported marijuana use among 12- to 17- and 18- to 25-year-olds nationwide. Recently, methamphetamine cartels have targeted Native American communities due to conflicts in jurisdiction between tribal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies that complicates the prosecution of methamphetamine producers and distributors. The resulting spike in rates of methamphetamine abuse and addiction has made the drug a law enforcement priority on many reservations in the American West, particularly the Wind River Indian Reservation of

title: Adolescence
text: in the late 1990s up through the mid-2000s, illicit drug use among adolescents has been on the rise in the U.S. Aside from alcohol, marijuana is the most commonly indulged drug habit during adolescent years. Data collected by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that between the years of 2007 and 2011, marijuana use grew from 5.7% to 7.2% among 8th grade students; among 10th grade students, from 14.2% to 17.6%; and among 12th graders, from 18.8% to 22.6%. Additional, recent years have seen a surge in popularity of MDMA; between 2010 and 2011, the use of MDMA increased