Finally meeting again, R.I. Cannabis Control Commission votes to hire $110K-a-year spokesperson

We're on it, dude

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

The Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission met Thursday afternoon for the first time in over two months, spending most of its first meeting of 2025 behind closed doors.

Absent from the agenda was a staple item for most meetings: public comment.

The hiring of a chief public affairs officer, however, dominated the meeting. The commission’s three members spent 15 minutes in executive session where they voted to extend a job offer to a candidate. 

The announcement was made upon the commission’s return to open session. Then the commission adjourned. The meeting — the first since Oct. 15, 2024 — lasted 23 minutes.

Chairperson Kimberly Ahern would not disclose the name of the candidate the commission selected to the crowd of seven members of the public who attended the meeting.

“There are layers of things to do before we can share anything,” Ahern told Rhode Island Current. 

A total of 76 people applied for the chief public affairs officer job by the Oct. 12, 2024, application deadline. The job was posted Oct. 3 with a 10-day application period. The position is tasked with handling media inquiries and coordinating with the General Assembly about cannabis-related legislation. 

“It was a very robust applicant pool,” Ahern said. “People are very excited about the commission’s work, I think.”

The annual salary for the position is $110,585, said Matthew Touchette, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Department of Business Regulation, which has overseen the state’s cannabis rules as the commission sets up the governing rules for Rhode Island’s recreational cannabis market.

“I’m going to be bummed that I’m not going to be working with Kim as much anymore,” Touchette said. “I am the only person who’s been with her since day one — she’s just been awesome to work with.”

New Research Reveals That Cannabis Can Reverse Brain Aging

Alter, was machst du?*

By University Hospital Bonn

A low-dose, long-term administration of cannabis has been shown to not only reverse aging processes in the brain but also exhibit anti-aging effects. Researchers from University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with a team from Hebrew University in Israel, demonstrated this effect in mice.

The key to this discovery lies in the protein switch mTOR, which influences cognitive performance and metabolic processes throughout the body. These findings have been published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.

Information about the availability or scarcity of resources is of crucial importance for the regulation of metabolism. The so-called metabolome is a complex reaction network that summarizes all metabolic properties of a cell or tissue. In higher organisms, the protein mTOR [Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin] is the central hub for cell growth and metabolism.

New Study Reveals That CBD Is Ineffective for Pain Relief

A Waste of Money: 

By University of Bath

New research led by the University of Bath in the UK suggests that CBD products, despite their popularity as an alternative pain treatment, do not alleviate chronic pain and may be both a financial drain and a health risk. 

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a chemical naturally found in the cannabis plant and is commonly sold in various forms such as oils, tinctures, vapes, topical creams, edibles like gummy bears, and soft drinks, available in stores and online. 

However, consumers would do well to steer clear of these products, according to the new study.

“CBD presents consumers with a big problem,” said Professor Chris Eccleston, who led the research from the Centre for Pain Research at Bath. “It’s touted as a cure for all pain but there’s a complete lack of quality evidence that it has any positive effects.”

He added: “It’s almost as if chronic pain patients don’t matter, and that we’re happy for people to trade on hope and despair.”

For their study, published this week in The Journal of Pain, the team – which included researchers from the Universities of Bath, Oxford, and Alberta in Canada – examined research relevant to using CBD to treat pain and published in scientific journals up to late 2023.

They found:

Here’s what Tim Walz has done as governor of Minnesota

Walz's solid record of progress for Minnesota

By Max Nesterak, Minnesota Reformer

Democrats have swiftly fallen for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s Midwest dad persona, sharing videos of him working on a car, going on a rollercoaster with daughter Hope at the State Fair, signing a bill renaming a street in Prince’s honor in purple ink. But he’s also got a long record as governor.

Walz’s first term was largely defined by the gridlock of divided government and crisis management in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd.

But once Democrats swept control of state government in the 2022 elections with Walz at the top of the ticket, they passed one of the most significant progressive agendas in the nation’s recent history with just a single-seat Senate majority.

Walz represented a Republican-leaning district in the U.S. House and was widely seen as the more centrist of the two leading Democratic candidates for governor, but he’s become a champion of progressive policy as governor. With few exceptions, Walz supported what the Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate could muster the votes to pass.

Those bills — ranging from protecting abortion access to speeding up energy permitting to increasing protections against wage theft — have excited the nation’s Democratic base, which is beginning to learn about the trifecta’s work over the past two years.

Here’s a look at where Walz stands on the issues, based on the bills he’s signed.

Cannabis Consumption and Compulsive Eating

What’s the Link?

By DREXEL UNIVERSITY 

New research from Drexel University’s Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center), examined how often people investigated the frequency of recreational cannabis use among individuals with binge eating behaviors. 

Furthermore, the research explored whether cannabis consumption in these patients is associated with more severe symptoms of eating disorders or with heightened challenges related to mental health.

While there has been a great deal of research on the impact of cannabis on eating habits, less is known about the effects of cannabis use on individuals with a binge eating disorder. Binge eating is the experience of feeling out of control when eating or unable to stop eating. 

Cannabis may play a particular role in maintaining binge eating as research suggests cannabis can increase how pleasurable or rewarding people find high-sugar or high-fat foods.

Far-right, GOP love of Russia deepens

Tucker Carlson wishes America was more like Moscow

By Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

By Clay Bennett

Tucker Carlson followed up his interview of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin with an appearance at the 2024 World Governments Summit in Dubai. Speaking with Egyptian journalist Emad Eldin Adeeb, Carlson praised Putin as “very capable” and fawned over Moscow, where he had just spent eight days as the dictator’s special guest. 

“It is so much nicer than any city in my country,” Tucker effused, adding, “it is so much cleaner and safer and prettier aesthetically—its architecture, its food, its service—than any city in the United States.”

But it wouldn’t be Tucker without more negative hyperbole and nods to fascism. He proceeded to pontificate on how he didn’t believe the “average person” in the U.S. “cares as much about abstractions as about the concrete reality of his life. And if you can't use your subway, for example, as many people are afraid to in New York City because it's too dangerous, you have to sort of wonder, like, isn't that the ultimate measure of leadership?”

Tucker then gushed about other cities, including Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, that he thinks are nicer than those in America. 

“[T]hese cities, no matter how we're told they're run and on what principles they're run, are wonderful places to live that don't have rampant inflation, where you're not going to get raped,” he said.

Tucker’s fascistic dog-whistling about trains, based on a historic falsehood, is funny coming from a man who had a small television studio built in Maine in 2020 and doesn’t seem to have spent much time in New York City recently, and probably could count on one hand the number of times he’s ever ridden the New York City subway.

And while rape and sexual assault are notoriously underreported, the compilations of the statistics available show New York state has one of the lowest reported rape statistics in the United States.

The next steps for legal pot in Rhode Island

Advocates want to change these four things in the state cannabis law next year

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

(Leafly)

With infused drinks, charcuterie, and the blasting beats of Drake, a group of over three dozen industry advocates, leaders, and lawmakers gathered on a Friday night to celebrate the anniversary of the first legal marijuana sale.

The Dec. 1 celebration at an event space in Cranston’s Rolfe Square also served as a forum to discuss changes they want to see in year two: specifically around ensuring all Rhode Islanders have the chance to take part in this budding industry.

“The details are what matters,” Rep. David Morales, a Providence Democrat, told the crowd. 

Morales was one of three Democratic lawmakers who spoke at the celebration. Also speaking, but via video, were Providence Rep. Enrique Sanchez and Pawtucket Rep. Leonela Felix.

Since April, cannabis advocates have looked through the state’s 115-page law hoping to close loopholes they believe could create an unfair landscape in Rhode Island. During the celebration on Friday, they presented four proposals. Two require approval from the General Assembly and governor and two are under the control of the Cannabis Control Commission.

• Narrow qualifications for a social equity applicant 
• Expand the social equity fund with tax revenue 
• Activate fee waivers
• Offer provisional licenses

Fed policy on marijuana is evolving - but not fast enough

We shouldn’t treat cannabis like heroin. 

By Paul Armentano 

From "Reefer Madness" (1936)

Nearly a year ago, the Biden administration asked the Department of Health and Human Services to reconsider how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.

Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970, different drugs are regulated or prohibited according to their placement in five different “schedules.”

The federal government currently puts marijuana in Schedule 1 — the most restrictive level, which it shares with heroin, ecstasy, and other drugs. By definition, substances in this category must possess “no currently accepted medical use” or “accepted safety for use… under medical supervision.”

After a long internal process, the Department of Health and Human Services now recommends removing the drug from Schedule 1. While the explicit details of the recommendation aren’t public, Bloomberg reports that the agency is suggesting moving marijuana to Schedule III.

The HHS recommendation now goes to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which will conduct its own scientific review. In the past, most recently in 2016, the agency has categorically refused to reschedule the drug. We likely won’t know how the DEA will respond for some time.

In the meantime, some observers have lauded the proposed change as a giant step forward. But my own reaction is more restrained.

With the change in cannabis laws, drug testing policies must change too

Adults who drink alcohol legally outside work aren’t penalized. It should be no different for marijuana. 

By Paul Armentano 

Voters and politicians are reshaping America’s marijuana laws for the better. The possession and use of cannabis is now legal for medical purposes in 38 states and legal for adult recreational use in 23 of those. 

Unfortunately, antiquated and discriminatory drug testing policies often haven’t kept up with these changes.

It’s reasonable for employers to expect sobriety on the job. But requiring would-be hires and employees to undergo urine screens for past cannabis exposure are invasive and ineffective. They neither identify workers who may be under the influence nor contribute to a safe work environment.

That’s because conventional urine tests only identify the presence of non-psychoactive “metabolites” — by-products that linger in the body’s blood and urine well after a substance’s mood-altering effects have ended. 

Even the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledges: “A positive test result, even when confirmed, only indicates that a particular substance is present in the test subject’s body tissue. It does not indicate abuse or addiction; recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment.”

Rhode Island marijuana industry becomes fertile ground for unionization

Pot bosses resist efforts to prevent labor strife

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

As a patient-care specialist at Warwick’s RISE Dispensary, Bruce Botelho recommends strains to customers and oversees purchases at a job he said initially provided good benefits and a friendly atmosphere.

“It’s a really fun job, the people I work with are great,” he said. 

Yet things soured quickly after Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries took over the former Summit Medical Compassion Center in 2021, he said.

While there were few changes at first, Botelho said employee discounts were reduced after the transition to recreational sales earlier this year. Then hours for full and part-time workers were cut without warning. 

“It feels sometimes like we’re actively being punished for choosing to work here,” he said.

It was that final decision by Green Thumb to cut hours that spurred Botelho to unionize his workplace in May. Within a month, workers at RISE voted 50-6 to form a union with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328.

Charlestown Town Council plate runneth over

Upcoming Town Council Meetings - Mar 27, 29

From Charlestown Residents United

From left to right: Susan Cooper (CCA), Rippy Serra (vice-president), Deb Carney (president), Grace Klinger, Steve Stokes

We have three, yes THREE, Town Council meetings coming up on Monday, March 27, and Wednesday, March 29. Here is your preview.

Monday's meeting will start at 7 pm in the town hall council chambers as usual. The agenda and backup materials can be seen here.

Here are some notable topics from the agenda:

• The Council will be considering new Zoning rules for Public Storage Facilities and perhaps schedule those rules for the formal public hearing on April 24. Public Storage Facilities were removed as an allowed use on April 11, 2022 with that restriction set to expire on April 30, 2023. This proposal would extend that restriction for another year. More details can be read here.

• There has been previous discussion about Cannabis regulation (reported here and here). At this meeting there will be a discussion of draft ordinance changes for that purpose. Starting here in the agenda packet, you can read the history in Town Council minutes, the new draft, and comments on that draft by Joseph Warner, the Town Building Official (dated March 20, 2023).

• There has been a ongoing issue with bills for "out of scope services" from our financial auditors, that total about $56,000. The Town has been struggling to receive adequate explanation of the work and the authorization for it. This will be discussed again. The agenda packet section for this topic, starting here, does not appear to include any new information.

• The Council will consider directing the Parks and Recreation Director to obtain quotations for lighting and electricity for Puchalski Field, behind town hall. The agenda packet gives a paragraph of rationale here.

• Scott Keeley proposed new signs for our Town Beaches at the February 27 Council meeting (reported here). This meeting includes an agenda item to consider developing new signs. The details can be read in the agenda packet here.

• The South Couth County Tourism Council has proposed something called the South County Troll Trail as a tourism initiative. The Council will discuss whether to participate in this. The details are in the agenda packet starting here.

On Wednesday, March 29, there will be two Council meetings:

The first Wednesday meeting will start at 6 pm and will be held jointly with the Planning Commission to discuss Commercial and Village Design Standards. This is an outcome of the February 27 Council meeting here there was some concern about how the bid process was handled and how the work would be done, reported here. The agenda packet has details including the detailed minutes of that section of the February 27 meeting.

The second Wednesday meeting will start at 7 pm and will be devoted to discussion of a report on Operational and Organizational Assessment of the Town’s financial processes and internal controls by consulting firm Clifton Larson Allen LLP. The agenda packet includes the report.

As usual public attendance in person in town hall is allowed for these meetings. They will be offered as a live stream to view through WebEx as described in the agenda. People watching online will not be able to comment or ask questions. The video of the sessions should be available for viewing on the morning after each meeting, on the meetings page. It will be down the page in the Past Meetings section.

Council considers village district guidelines, affordable housing and pot shops

Feb. 27, 2023 Town Council Meeting Report

From Charlestown Residents United 

New sign design suggested by Scott Keeley

Our preview of this meeting was published here.

The agenda packet for this meeting is here. The video for the meeting can be viewed here.

Scott Keeley appeared under Persons Wishing to Be Heard to speak about signage at the town beaches. He lamented the condition and quality of the current town signs and the misinformation on private signs near the beach. 

He showed some ideas for new signs, that would include statements of the constitution rights to use the beach. These can be seen in the agenda packet here.

Planning Commission Chair Ruth Platner spoke for awarding the bid for Commercial and Village Design Standards. (agenda item Fiscal Matters A) This work will produce guidelines for village areas of town. The result will come to the Council for possible adoption in zoning regulations. 

There was considerable discussion, initiated by Councilmember Stephen Stokes and taking almost half of the meeting time, about whether the bid period of approximately 3 weeks over the New Year was sufficient to receive the best bid. Only one bid was received. 

The current bid was rejected and the Council asked the Planning Department to re-issue the RFP for a period of 30 days to receive more bid options.

The town solicitor suggested that he could draft a cannabis sales ordinance based on other examples that are readily available, with the objective of bringing a draft for discussion to the Council in a month. The Council approved that.

The Council requested that the town solicitor draft an affordable housing trust fund ordinance to put a better framework around management of town funding for affordable housing. The Council expects to review this in April.

Council member Stephen Stokes initiated the agenda item to request an advisory opinion from the Planner and Planning Commission about giving development options among Conventional, Cluster and Conservation Development. 

He stated the objective, to give more flexibility. He asked for the advisory opinion to be delivered by April 10, 2023. This motion passed 4 - 1 with Councilor Cooper opposing.

The meeting adjourned at 8:38 pm.

CBD is not a cure-all

Here’s what science says about its real health benefits

Kent E Vrana, Penn State

Since 2018, it has been legal in the U.S. to use a drug made
from purified cannabis-derived cannabidiol – CBD – to treat
certain childhood seizure disorders.
 Visoot Uthairam/Moment via Getty Images

Over the last five years, an often forgotten piece of U.S. federal legislation – the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill – has ushered in an explosion of interest in the medical potential of cannabis-derived cannabidiol, or CBD.

After decades of debate, the bill made it legal for farmers to grow industrial hemp, a plant rich in CBD. Hemp itself has tremendous value as a cash crop; it’s used to produce biofuel, textiles and animal feed. But the CBD extracted from the hemp plant also has numerous medicinal properties, with the potential to benefit millions through the treatment of seizure disorders, pain or anxiety.

Prior to the bill’s passage, the resistance to legalizing hemp was due to its association with marijuana, its biological cousin. Though hemp and marijuana belong to the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa, they each have a unique chemistry, with very different characteristics and effects. 

Marijuana possesses tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that produces the characteristic high that is associated with cannabis. Hemp, on the other hand, is a strain of the cannabis plant that contains virtually no THC, and neither it nor the CBD derived from it can produce a high sensation.

As a professor and chair of the department of pharmacology at Penn State, I have been following research developments with CBD closely and have seen some promising evidence for its role in treating a broad range of medical conditions.

While there is growing evidence that CBD can help with certain conditions, caution is needed. Rigorous scientific studies are limited, so it is important that the marketing of CBD products does not get out ahead of the research and of robust evidence.

Lively Town Council meeting with a big ending

Jan. 23, 2023 Town Council Meeting Report

From Charlestown Residents United (CRU)

This was our second Town Council meeting this month, with some important topics that we previewed here.

This article summarizes what happened in the meeting. The agenda packet for the meeting is here.

The council chambers, though not having room for many people, was quite full for this meeting.

Ninigret Park Master Plan

Stephen Stokes proposed directing the Parks & Recreation Department to update the 2008 Ninigret Park Master Plan (complete wording too lengthy to type here during the meeting). Ms. Cooper suggesting simply designating this the 2023 Ninigret Park Master Plan. Ms. Carney suggesting emphasizing enhancement of the ball fields and a dedicated concert/festival area with, possibly, including electricity.

There was a lot of good discussion with support for the idea of an update and questions about specific things mentioned in Mr. Stokes proposal.

After the discussion, Mr. Stokes made his motion to initiate the master plan update with participation by the various stakeholders and considering changes in the park since the 2008 master plan. His motion can be heard at about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the video here. The motion passed unanimously.

Ninigret Park Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Charlie Vandemoer in his heyday in 2012 when he
conspired with the CCA to create a crisis we called
"The Battle for Ninigret Park" that was based on a collection
 of lies Charlie helped to concoct. As those lies were debunked,
the CCA (and Charlie) lost the battle and his consolation
prize was the MOU discussed last Monday.
These comments and photo by Will Collette. 

Mr. Stokes reviewed a letter from former Wildlife Refuge manager Charlie Vandemoer that was received by the town far after the events noted and clearly contains inaccuracies. Mr. Stokes made a motion to begin the 30-day notification period for revising the MOU and the start the revision process.

Ms. Klinger suggested that entering an MOU revision process is more drastic than needed and, lacking specific changes we want made, we may be better served by asking for corrections to the letter.

After discussion Mr. Stokes simply asked the interim refuge manager to send corrections to the prior letter to the town. The interim refuge manager agreed to that. No motion came to vote.

Zoning for Cannabis sales

The briefings on this topic from The Building Official and Town Planner can be read in the agenda packet here.

The Council unanimously passed a motion asking the ad hoc ordinance review committee to draft a template ordinance for discussion with legal counsel. There was discussion that policy decisions need to be made as input to this process and the Council felt that could work because the ad hoc committee has not been formed yet.

Town Administrator

The Council went into executive session around 10 pm. Upon return Council President Carney explained that the Council unanimously approved the resignation of the Town Administrator.

President Carney explained the terms of the resignation: affective February 13, 2023, last day in the office January 23, 2023. Comments from the audience were permitted and can be heard in the video recording around the 3 hour, 5 minute mark.

The entire meeting can be watched here.

Charlestown Council meets Monday: Last round-up for Stankiewicz?

 

 

Fellow Residents of Charlestown, The second January meeting of our Town Council will be held on Monday, January 23, starting at 7 pm. The topics planned for this meeting promise to command intense interest and generate town-wide discussion.  ·    There are two agenda items about Ninigret Park, ·    There will be discussion about zoning regulations for cannabis sales, ·    And there is an executive session on the agenda to consider a "Possible Resignation by the Town Administrator." The agenda is available here and we wrote a preview of the meeting here. The meeting will be held in person at Town Hall but the video will also be live streamed as described on the first page of the agenda. (People watching the live stream will not be able to comment or ask questions.)

 

With thanks, Tim Quillen, Chair Charlestown Residents United

 

Charlestown Residents United P.O. Box 412 Charlestown, RI 02813

 

Visit our Website

 

Good thing there’s edibles

Smoking Marijuana May Be Worse for Lungs Than Smoking Cigarettes

Radiological Society of North America

Airway inflammation and emphysema are more common
in marijuana smokers than cigarette smokers,
according to new research.

According to new research, airway inflammation and emphysema are more common in marijuana smokers than cigarette smokers. Investigators said the difference may be due to the way that marijuana is smoked and the fact that marijuana smoke enters the lungs unfiltered. The research study was published on November 15 in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Marijuana is the most-commonly smoked substance after tobacco and one of the most widely used psychoactive substances in the world. Amid the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada and many states in the U.S., its use has increased substantially in recent years. With the growing use, there is an urgent need for information on marijuana’s effects on the lungs, something that is currently lacking.

Cannabis holds promise for pain management, reducing the need for opioid painkillers

A neuropharmacology expert explains how

Benjamin Land, University of Washington

The cannabis plant produces both THC – the
psychoactive component in marijuana – and the
compound commonly known as CBD, which does
not lead to a ‘high.’
 Jena Ardell/Moment via Getty Images

Drug overdose deaths from opioids continue to rise in the U.S. as a result of both the misuse of prescription opioids and the illicit drug market.

But an interesting trend has developed: Opioid emergency room visits drop by nearly 8% and opioid prescriptions are modestly lower in states where marijuana is legalized.

Marijuana is produced by the cannabis plant, which is native to Asia but is now grown throughout the world. Individuals use marijuana for both its psychoactive, euphoria-inducing properties and its ability to relieve pain.

Chemicals produced by the cannabis plant are commonly known as cannabinoids. The two primary cannabinoids that occur naturally in the cannabis plant are THC – the psychoactive compound in marijuana – and CBD, which does not cause the sensation of being high.

Many marijuana users say they take it to treat pain, suggesting that readily available cannabinoids could potentially be used to offset the use of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone that are commonly used in pain treatment. A safer, natural alternative to opioid painkillers would be an important step toward addressing the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Intriguingly however, research suggests that cannabis use could also lessen the need for opioids directly by interacting with the body’s own natural opioid system to produce similar pain-relief effects.

I am a neuropharmacology scientist who studies both opioids and cannabinoids as they relate to pain treatment and substance abuse. My research focuses on the development of drug compounds that can provide chronic pain relief without the potential for overuse and without the tapering off of effectiveness that often accompanies traditional pain medications.

Charlestown Chunks #12

Abortion win, cannabis vote, Flip on drugs, Kalus gets tax cut YOU can’t have, drought and pandemic still here.

By Will Collette

Benson V. Raimondo case turned down by US Supreme Court on October 11.

Source: Wikipedia

It may not seem like much after the Supremes overturned Roev. Wade, denying women’s reproductive rights. But the court’s decision not to hear an appeal from the Catholic Church in the three-year old case is worthy of celebration. Catholics for Life had tried to establish that human rights begin at the moment of conception but lost at every level in the state and federal courts.

Trump’s Supreme Court appointees turned the court far to the right, evidenced by the Dodd decision that overturned Roe, so it was a surprise that they turned down a case where they could stake out an even more radical position. The Boston Globe published an excellent analysis of the history of the case and its impact.

You get to vote on cannabis for Charlestown.

I'm voting YES

Now that Rhode Island has legalized the purchase and use of cannabis for personal recreational use, the next question is where you can legally buy it. The state law provides for local marijuana stores to be established IF voters approve a local referendum to the right👉 

If Charlestown voters approve the referendum, then Charlestown may allow a cannabis business to set up in Charlestown under “reasonable” terms and conditions. In Charlestown, that is in the eye of the beholder.

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) has been distinctly hostile to any retail establishment, no matter what they sell. 

They’ve used every tool at their disposal – zoning restrictions on parking, lighting, signage, shrubbery, materials, etc. to break down most businesses that try to make a go of it in Charlestown. All the closed and vacant businesses, especially on Route One, make Charlestown the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams (thank you, Green Day).”

The CCA claims, in its infinite wisdom and kindness, that it is giving voters “the option to decide for themselves” whether to allow cannabis businesses into town. 

They don’t have much choice, since failure to put the question to the voters means that Charlestown cedes the authority to the new State Commission overseeing the marijuana program.

On the upside, if we welcome in new cannabis businesses, the town will receive 3% of the gross. I’d love to see the Tribe get a license – they already have the Smoke Shop and wouldn’t even need to change the sign. A friend suggested another venue could be the Old Umbrella Factory which certainly has a whiff of spliff in its history. However, they’d have to improve their handicapped access (so would the Tribe).

If Charlestown tight asses vote the referendum down, Charlestown cannot restrict residents from buying for personal use in Westerly or South Kingstown and bringing it home. Plus, you can grow your own – up to six including three mature plants, though not a weed ranch.

Flip must be good on this.

Our out-going state Representative Blake “Flip” Filippi seems to be going all in on legalizing drugs. I reported his recent public campaign to legalized magic mushrooms/psilocybin for use on veterans with mental disorders based on one study by Johns Hopkins where even the authors say much more research needs to be done.

Flip has since expanded the scope of his campaign saying:

Sure, the use of psychedelics like magic mushrooms and peyote (which has similar effects but from an entirely different chemical agent) have long been used for religious purposes in many indigenous cultures around the world. And yes, there have been scientific studies on the use of hallucinogens to treat certain types of mental illness.

However, Flip is not a shaman, nor is he qualified to give medical advice on the merits of consuming powerful, mind-altering drugs.

Anyway, I expect Flip will hit the campaign trail to support a “YES” vote in Charlestown to allow a pot store to set up in town. Also, I’ve heard he has been campaigning for the re-election of his radical insurrectionist colleague, Rep. Justin Price. 

Report details housing costs in South County.

Yeah, housing in South County is as unaffordable as ever, according to a new report cited in Patch.

Here is the data summary:

• Population: 129,839
• Total housing units: 65,694
• Q3 2022 median home price: $588,000
• Year-over-year median home price growth: 12 percent
• Annualized weekly wages: $57,460
• Year-over-year wage growth: 2.8 percent
• Q3 2022 Affordability Index: 75.29

Read the full report HERE.

Ashley Kalus’s crazy, mixed-up life.

In the 1870s, the South was exploited by
"carpetbaggers" from the North, looking to
profit from the post-war devastation. Now comes
Ashley Kalus from Florida, or maybe Illinois,
to wreak havoc here. (Wikipedia)

Carpetbagger Ashley Kalus (R) is running against incumbent Dan McKee for Governor. One of the minimum requirements to run for this office is to actually live in Rhode Island. She barely does.

Based on property records from Florida and Illinois, it’s hard to tell where she actually lives. We know she bought a house in Newport last year and registered to vote earlier this year. 

But property records in Illinois show that she and her husband are collecting a Homestead property tax exemption on their home in the tony northern suburbs of Chicago. You can’t get a Homestead tax break unless the property is your permanent residence.

She also owns a home in the Florida Keys and may be getting a Homestead credit there, too – even though those records show her as declaring the Illinois house as her residence. Published reports show that Kalus voted in Florida in 2020 (and calls Ron DeSantis, Florida’s fascist Governor, her role model).

To top it off, the mortgage application she filed for her Newport house lists the Newport house as a “second residence.”

She has given a variety of convoluted reasons for how she can live in three places at once and still be as dedicated a Rhode Islander as Roger Williams. But, in my opinion, none of them pass the smell test.

McKee hit Kalus with a charge that the only reason she’s running is as a grudge over the state Health Department’s decision to terminate a lucrative COVID testing and vaccination project. That seemed to take Kalus by surprise, but not really when you look at the documentation HERE and HERE.

What I do want to flag is how often we find that candidates for public office in Rhode Island are collecting a Homestead deduction on their property tax. 

Failed House District 2 candidate Sarah Morgenthau was getting a Homestead credit on her home in DC and on her new house in North Kingstown. 

Kerry King (R) collected a $50,000 Homestead tax credit in Florida at the same time he was running for Lieutenant Governor. In every jurisdiction, you must be a permanent resident to get a Homestead credit.

In Charlestown, the CCA went nuts when we suggested a Homestead Credit here. Increasingly, we’re becoming an outlier. Our neighbors in Narragansett and North Kingstown and many of the people who move to Charlestown or live her part-time receive Homestead benefits where they come from. 

But the CCA and its now-deceased parent, the RI Statewide Coalition, stormed the Council meeting where it was discussed, condemning it as communistic and grossly unfair to all those nice rich people who come here every summer.

By the way, the town is sponsoring a clean-up day on Saturday for volunteers drawn from the permanent residents are encouraged to go out and clean-up the summer people’s roadside trash. Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?

Our summer hordes cost taxpayers who live here year-round a lot of money for infrastructure that the summer people need but go unused the rest of the year. Plus, we're supposed to go out and clean up after them.

That’s why Homestead credits are so popular and widespread. Let the CCA show that it is loyal to those of us who live and vote here, and not just to those summer visitors who send the CCA big campaign checks.

Drought is still here and so is the pandemic.

Despite all the rain we’ve received in the past month – almost 8 inches since September 1 - South County, especially along the coast, is still in “moderate” drought. That’s certainly far better than the “extreme” and “exceptional” levels we were at in July. However, it came too late to save our already fragile trees from more damage and to prevent damage to crops, impacting apples and of all things, Christmas trees.

It is still prudent to save water since the climate crisis will almost certainly find more ways to challenge us.

In my last “Chunks,” I noted the phenomenon that most of the public and certainly most of elected officials have decided by fiat that the pandemic is over, despite the statistics showing our rate of infection remains at pandemic levels even though most new COVID cases never get reported since the widespread use of home testing kits.

Even one of my doctors caught it…twice, getting the second hit after taking the recommended round of Paxlovid.

The State Health Department no longer gives daily statistics, just weekly, but we are still running an average of 145-160 cases per 100,000 not counting cases caught by home testing. As a reminder, our rate on the 4^th of July last year was a dozen per 100,000.

Every day, approximately 500 Americans die unnecessarily from COVID. Get all your boosters, please, including the new bivalent COVID vaccine that works on the new variants. And your flu shots.