Cannabis Status: Update on expungements, taxes

EXPUNGEMENTS

A few months ago, we reported on the process of automatic expungement for criminal and civil offense records mandated by the RI Cannabis Act (“Cannabis Records Expungement: Progress report and guide to the process,” Apr 3, 2023) which was required no later than July 1, 2024. The Office of the State Court Administrator confirmed, in response to inquiries by Motif, that this was completed several months in advance of the statutory deadline. Phase I involved expungement of records with only eligible cannabis charges and Phase II involved expungement of eligible cannabis charges that were combined with other charges. Before cannabis possession was legalized in 2022, it was decriminalized in 2013 and cases after that were a civil violation. The Traffic Tribunal, responsible for civil violations, expunged 9,952 records. The District Court, responsible for misdemeanor convictions, expunged 10,647 records in Phase I and 5,857 records in Phase II. The Superior Court, responsible for felony convictions, expunged 2,999 records in Phase I and 6,672 records in Phase II. A person whose records are expunged has a clean record, as if the offense never happened, with some limited exceptions: Unless specifically provided otherwise by law (such as applying for a law enforcement or national security job, bar membership, or a teaching certificate), the person whose records are expunged can decline to disclose the offense when applying for jobs, credit, housing, etc.

TAX REVENUE

According to data released at the state Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) on May 15, 2024, the first tax revenue attributable to recreational cannabis began to be collected Dec 1, 2022. For that 16-month period ending April 2024, total tax revenue was $20,204,167.20, of which $3,030,614.58 was 3% local cannabis tax, $10,102,089.78 was 10% state cannabis excise tax, and $7,071,462.84 was 7% state sales tax on cannabis. Tax revenue took a while to ramp up as facilities opened, but by August 2023 seemed to plateau at a consistent $1.4 to $1.5 million per month. These totals imply just over $100 million in gross sales statewide over those 16 months. Of the local tax, the greatest revenue was in Warwick ($1,206,091.10), with Pawtucket ($604,165.33), Providence ($560,499.59), and Exeter ($386,195.56) distantly behind in second, third, and fourth place, respectively, followed by Portsmouth ($141,376.16) and Central Falls ($120,429.36). No other municipality exceeded $10,000 and most were less than $100. As authorized by the RI Cannabis Act, many cities and towns held referendum votes about whether to allow cannabis sales, resulting in bans in Barrington, East Greenwich, Jamestown, Little Compton, Scituate, and Smithfield. •