The Barrington Town Council is encouraging the public to attend a workshop on Tuesday, May 31 to provide feedback on whether the sale of recreational cannabis should be permitted in town. 

State legislation was signed into law last week — the legislation (2022-S 2430 and 2022-H 7593) legalizes, regulates, and taxes recreational cannabis sales in Rhode Island. 

The two key issues for Barrington resulting from the legislation are:

• If the town wishes to ban retail sales of cannabis, it must allow the electorate to decide on or before the election in November. The town cannot simply ban the use through zoning.

• If the council wishes to allow retail sales of cannabis, the town can enact zoning regulations for this use, subject to certain restrictions outlined in the legislation.

Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll said the legalization of recreational cannabis will bring a major change to the state and to Barrington.

“The town council is looking for input from our citizens on how we should respond to these changes,” Carroll said. “We will explore at our workshop the question of whether we should permit the sale of cannabis products in Barrington, and what concerns our residents may have about the issue. We encourage our residents to attend the workshop on May 31.”

The workshop, scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 31, will be a “hybrid” meeting — the public can attend in-person at the middle school presentation room, or via Zoom (meeting ID: 878 2625 2410; link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87826252410).