Rhode Island
98 apply for RI’s retail cannabis dispensary licenses. Here’s where
Just two applications were submitted for the Woonsocket, Cumberland, Smithfield area
Cannabis Legal in RI
Gov. Dan McKee signs into law Wednesday afternoon the legal selling and use of recreational marijuana.
David DelPoio, The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE – A total of 98 entities submitted applications for Rhode Island’s 24 cannabis dispensary licenses, with the northern part of the state only seeing two applications.
The Cannabis Control Commission announced the retail license applications during its meeting on Jan. 16.
Applications opened in mid-September and closed on Dec. 29, 2025. The applications will be vetted before being assigned via a lottery system, but a date for applicants to get zoning approval for their retail establishments has been pushed out to March 2, while some cities and towns, such as Pawtucket, are changing their zoning rules after the application period closed.
While Rhode Island passed a law allowing for the opening of retail dispensaries in 2022, the licenses have yet to be issued, although dispensaries that sold medical marijuana have been selling recreational marijuana as well.
Three categories of cannabis dispensary licenses
The license applications were not evenly divided across the six zones Rhode Island has been carved into for the purposes of assigning the licenses. The northern division of the state, called Zone 1, with easy access to Massachusetts’ plentiful and less expensive dispensaries, saw only two applicants, both of them in the social equity category, and none in the general retail or worker-owned cooperative categories.
Rhode Island law recognizes three categories of applicants: social equity, general retail and worker-owned cooperative. Of the 98 applications, 23 were social equity, 56 were general retail and 19 were worker cooperative.
Of the 24 licenses, six are reserved for social equity applicants and another six are reserved for worker cooperatives. However, with no worker cooperative applicants in Zone 1 and Zone 4, and no general retail in Zone 1, the Cannabis Control Commission will only issue a maximum of 20 licenses, Administrator Michelle Reddish said during the Jan. 16 meeting.
Of the 19 worker cooperative applications, 12 were submitted in Zone 2, the state’s urban core, including Providence, North Providence, Central Falls, Johnston and Lincoln. None were submitted in Zone 1, the north, or Zone 4, the West Bay.
“We were expecting one, two or three worker-owned cooperative applications in every zone, or even zero, but 12 is a huge outlier,” worker cooperative organizer Emma Karnes, with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328, said in an interview. “There were only 10 traditional license applicants in Zone 2, so who are all of these coops? We have no idea what happened here.”
Karnes has been working with Co-op Rhody to help four worker cooperatives with their applications, including finding real estate and investors.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to organize, even if it’s not with these founding four cooperatives, into cooperative programming and, ultimately, raise awareness about cooperatives and achieve and strengthen cooperatives’ power in the state,” she said.
There were 23 social equity applicants, spread across all the zones, with the most, eight, in Zone 4. According to the RI Current, there were initially 94 social equity license “requests,” but only 36 met the eligibility criteria in November, and the number appears to have dropped to 23. Applications for social equity applicants opened in August.
The social equity provisions in state law are being challenged in lawsuits revived by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a District Court judge dismissed them. The appeals court directed the judge to issue rulings on merits at least 45 days before the date that the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission intends to issue retail licenses. There is no timeline for license issuance.
Of the general retail applications, where were none in Zone 1 in the north; 24 in Zone 6, which includes Pawtucket, East Providence and Aquidneck Island; and two in Zone 3, the middle-western portion of the state.
Among the four cooperatives Karnes is working with is Permaculture, which has secured a location in Coventry.
Where are the zones located?
Here are the cities and towns in each zone.
Six municipalities rejected retail sales via a referendum vote in 2022, described at the time as the only way to opt out of allowing it: Barrington, East Greenwich, Jamestown, Little Compton, Scituate and Smithfield.
Zone 1, northern portion of the state: Burrillville, Cumberland, Glocester, North Smithfield, Smithfield, Woonsocket. Smithfield rejected retail sales via a 2022 referendum vote. There were a total of two applications.
Zone 2, East-Central and urban core: Providence, North Providence, Central Falls, Johnston, Lincoln. There were a total of 26 applications.
Zone 3, Middle-western: Coventry, Foster, Scituate, West Greenwich, West Warwick. There were a total of nine applications.
Zone 4, West Bay: East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Cranston, Warwick. East Greenwich rejected retail sales via a 2022 referendum vote. There were a total of 19 applications.
Zone 5, South west corner: Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, Richmond, South Kingstown, Westerly. There were a total of 14 applications.
Zone 6, a combination of Aquidneck Island, the East Bay and Pawtucket: East Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, Barrington, Bristol, Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown, New Shoreham, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Warren. Barrington, Jamestown and Little Compton rejected retail sales via a 2022 referendum vote. There were a total of 31 applications.
Rhode Island
R.I. Democratic Committee issues no endorsement for governor or lieutenant governor – The Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE – In an unusual move, the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee issued no endorsement for the incumbent governor and lieutenant governor on Saturday.
Incumbent Governor Daniel J. McKee received 82 votes, while his challenger, former CVS executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes, received 73 votes. There were 11 votes for no endorsement, including from the party chair, Liz Beretta-Perik.
To secure an endorsement, a candidate needs 50 percent of the votes cast plus one vote. McKee needed 84 votes to secure the endorsement, so he came up two votes short.
Party officials said they could not recall the last time the committee did not endorse an incumbent Democratic governor. Beretta-Perik later said she voted for no endorsement because she needed to stay neutral.
McKee left the Teamsters Local 251 union hall in East Providence soon after the vote, without talking to reporters. In a statement sent soon after, however, he declared the outcome “a victory for our campaign” and noted he received “the largest margin in today’s endorsement vote.”
“We will win again in September,” he said in the statement. “Rhode Islanders have a clear choice: a governor who has spent every day fighting for working families, or a corporate executive who has spent her career fighting for corporate profits in the boardroom. I know which side I’m on — and today, Rhode Island Democrats made clear they do too.”
Part of the reason McKee came up two votes short of an endorsement is that his former special adviser, Eva-Marie Mancuso, voted for Foulkes.
As she walked into the Teamsters hall, Mancuso said, “I think we need new leadership. I’m ready.”
Mancuso — a former Rhode Island Board of Education chairwoman who left the McKee administration in 2023 to take a job with Bryant University — said a big part of her decision had to do with the decision by McKee, a long-time charter school advocate, to sign a bill that places a three-year moratorium on new charter schools and permanently lowers the cap on the total number.
“That was a big, big deal,” she said. “I mean, that just shows that he’s really lost focus of what the state needs.”
When McKee beat Foulkes in the 2022 Democratic primary, McKee was filmed telling Mancuso to hang up on Foulkes as he was prepared to deliver his victory speech. On Saturday, Mancuso said, “I took her call.”
The Democratic committee also did not endorse a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Out of 162 votes, incumbent Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos received just 55 votes, while former Newport mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong received 71. Providence City Council member Sue AnderBois received 15 votes, and former state senator Cynthia Coyne got 13. Eight people voted for no endorsement.
The committee did not endorse anyone in the race to replace term-limited Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.
State Representative Joseph J. Solomon Jr. received 73 votes, former state Cannabis Control Commission chairwoman Kim Ahern received 42 votes, former attorney general policy chief Keith Hoffman received 22 votes, and state Representative Jason Knight received 12 votes, while 10 voted for no endorsement.
A total of 159 committee members voted, so 80 votes were needed to secure the endorsement.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
(WJAR) — Rhode Island will begin phasing out the sale of certain rat poisons after Gov. Dan McKee signed new legislation into law Thursday, making the Ocean State the second in the nation to adopt restrictions on the products.
The law targets first- and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, commonly used to control rats and mice.
Supporters say the poisons are harming wildlife, while critics argue they are among the most effective tools available to manage rodent populations.
Under the law, the sale of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides will be prohibited beginning March 1, 2027.
Restrictions on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides will take effect Jan. 1, 2028. A statewide prohibition on both types is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2029.
Licensed commercial applicators and certain public health, agricultural and municipal uses are exempt from the restrictions.
Supporters said birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles are particularly vulnerable because they consume poisoned rodents. (WJAR file photo)
The legislation was backed by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, which says the poisons can move through the food chain and kill predators that feed on rodents.
“Across the country, and again, with Rhode Island making this move, the second only to California, we’ve seen just too many cases of off-species targets either being sickened or worse with these rodenticides,” said Maxwell McFarland, director of advocacy for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
McFarland said birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles are particularly vulnerable because they consume poisoned rodents.
“What we’re seeing is these are accumulating in the natural predators meant to manage these rodent populations,” McFarland said. “So primarily our hawks, owls and eagles.”
According to McFarland, wildlife rehabilitators in Rhode Island have documented widespread exposure to the poisons among injured birds brought into their care.
“They’ve had hundreds of raptors admitted into their care over the past couple of years, and every single one has shown signs of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning,” he said.
Supporters of the law say reducing the use of rodenticides will encourage communities to adopt alternative pest-control methods, including improved sanitation, securing trash and sealing buildings to prevent rodent access.
The law also creates a voluntary municipal Integrated Pest Management pilot program aimed at helping communities transition away from anticoagulant rodenticides.
Not everyone supports the change.
Tony DeJesus, former vice president of Big Blue Bug Solutions, said the restrictions will make it more difficult for homeowners and businesses to control rats and mice. (WJAR)
Tony DeJesus, former vice president of Big Blue Bug Solutions, said the restrictions will make it more difficult for homeowners and businesses to control rats and mice.
“It’s gonna have a major impact on our business. And not only that, but on the homeowners,” DeJesus said.
DeJesus said over-the-counter rodent control products commonly used by homeowners will no longer be available once the law takes effect.
“Homeowners will not be able to go out anymore and buy things like Decon and some of the other over-the-counter baits once this goes into effect,” he said.
He also expressed concern about the impact on restaurants and public health.
“The main thing is that when we start talking about how this is gonna affect it, rats carry disease,” DeJesus said. “Food poisoning is associated with both rats and mice in restaurants and things.”
DeJesus pointed to California, which enacted similar restrictions, as a cautionary example.
“The proof in the pudding is the state of California that did the same thing three years ago,” he said. “And now Los Angeles has been voted the rattiest city in the United States.”
McFarland said the legislation provides communities and pest-control companies with time to adapt before the restrictions fully take effect.
“We believe that it’s a fair timeline where communities, municipalities and pest management companies can learn, unlearn rather, the status quo of how they’re applying these rodenticides,” he said.
The Audubon Society said Rhode Island’s law follows similar action taken in California and comes as other New England states consider comparable legislation.
State officials say the first restrictions under the new law will take effect in March 2027.
WARWICK, R.I. (WJAR) — The local community hosted a send-off celebration for Special Olympics Rhode Island athletes on Friday.
Twenty-four athletes, along with partners, coaches, and medical personnel, are traveling to Minneapolis for the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games.
The local community hosted a send-off celebration for Special Olympics Rhode Island athletes on Friday. (WJAR)
Textron hosted the team in a private jet for travel to the games, officials said.
“The USA Games represent months of dedication, hard work, and perseverance for our athletes,” President and CEO of Special Olympics Rhode Island Ed Pacheco said. “Our athletes, Unified partners, and coaches carry with them the hopes and aspirations of achieving gold while representing the very fabric of our great state. This journey would not be possible without Textron, and we are incredibly grateful for their support in creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Team Rhode Island as they travel to compete on the national stage.”
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Officials said the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games will be held from Saturday through next Friday.
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