Purpose and Reason:
In accordance with the 2022 adoption of the Rhode Island Cannabis Act (“RICA”) (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 21-28.11) and the 2022 amendments to the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act (“Medical Marijuana Act”) (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 21-28.6), the Commission has proposed the adoption of 560-RICR-10-05-1 as part of the transition of the cannabis regulatory program from the Department of Business Regulation (“DBR”) to the Commission.
This regulation establishes standard provisions for the operations of the Commission relative to hearings and enforcement actions and required rules for public records, petitions for rulemaking and petitions for declaratory rulings.
Most of the regulation was built off existing provisions in DBR’s Rules of Procedure for Administrative Hearings, 230-RICR-10-00-2, which are the rules for hearings currently followed by the Office of Cannabis Regulation for all enforcement matters. DBR’s provisions were modified to meet the needs of the Commission, a public body that is also subject to the Open Meetings Act. The Enforcement provisions were sourced from DBR’s current medical marijuana regulation provisions and updated by the Commission consistent with the Cannabis Act and new licenses that Commission is authorized to issue. Below is a summary of the regulation:
- §§ 1.1 - 1.3, 1.5 - 1.28 are modeled after DBR’s Rules of Procedure for Administrative Hearings, 230-RICR-10-00-2. These sections were modified slightly to fit the Commission’s structure as a commission subject to the Open Meetings Act.
- DBR’s existing enforcement provisions in § 1.13 of the Medical Marijuana Regulation, 230-RICR-80-05-1, have been incorporated into this regulation as follows:
- § 1.4 is the content from DBR’s medical regulation in 1.13(A) on inspections and audits. No changes to status quo.
- § 1.5(C) contains the provisions from DBR’s medical regulation in § 1.13(C). Minimal changes were made consistent with updates to patient/caregiver home grow certificate program in Part 10-15-1.
- § 1.18(C) contains the provisions from DBR medical regulation in § 1.13(D), with minor changes to the penalty chart by removing the identified minimum penalties in the first two rows of the chart.
- §1.18(D) contains the provisions from DBR’s medical regulation in § 1.13(E) with minor edits for consistency with the Cannabis Act.
- § 1.29 sets forth APRA procedures for the Commission.
- § 1.30 – Sets forth procedures for Declaratory Rulings and Petitions as required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35-8.
- § 1.31 – Sets forth procedures for petitions for promulgation of rules as required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35-6.
A public hearing will be held on Friday, January 24, 2025, at 1 p.m. at the Public Utilities Commission, 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI 02886.
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