The Day, 30 Mar 2013 – Providence- Rhode Island is reducing the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and preparing to open its first medical pot dispensaries as states around the nation reassess their stance on the country’s most popular illicit drug. A new law decriminalizing the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana will take effect Monday. Instead of the threat of jail time or a $500 fine, those caught with marijuana will receive a $150 civil fine. The offender will have to forfeit the marijuana and appear in traffic court, but the incident won’t appear on their criminal records.

Salem News, 16 Nov 2012 – PROVIDENCE, R. I. (AP) – Recent campaigns that made Colorado and Washington the first states in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana are energizing efforts to do the same in New England, with lawmakers in Rhode Island and Maine vowing to push legislation next year to impose alcohol style regulations and taxes on the drug. Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello, D- Providence, said yesterday that the passage of legalization referendums in the two Western states are the latest indication that American attitudes toward marijuana are softening.