---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT - OFFENSES AND PENALTIES (Excludes the possession of buprenorphine from those controlled substances that can result in criminal penalties.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT - OFFENSES AND PENALTIES (Excludes the possession of buprenorphine from those controlled substances that can result in criminal penalties.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 65"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 65 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offense", "Drugs", "Food and Drugs", "Substance Abuse"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acosta", "Archambault", "Bell", "Coyne", "DiMario", "Miller", "Murray", "Quezada", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-19"
last_action: "2021-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/91c1241a-525d-4224-8e54-8874d5ef564a"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "f42cf91c49c7d7ee7cc9c1fa36100f422100dbca67b9596c7c0f041701ad54f2"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 65 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT - OFFENSES AND PENALTIES (Excludes the possession of buprenorphine from those controlled substances that can result in criminal penalties.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **65 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0065A.pdf)

## Votes

- OFFENSES AND PENALTIES — **36–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Acosta — primary (person)
- Archambault — primary (person)
- Bell — primary (person)
- Coyne — primary (person)
- DiMario — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)
- Quezada — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-19** 01/19/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-19** 03/19/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/25/2021)
- **2021-03-25** 03/25/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-04-23** 04/23/2021 Scheduled for consideration (04/29/2021)
- **2021-04-28** 04/28/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-04-29** 04/29/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-30** 04/30/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/04/2021)
- **2021-05-04** 05/04/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-05-05** 05/05/2021 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/15/2021)
- **2021-06-15** 06/15/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/23/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/91c1241a-525d-4224-8e54-8874d5ef564a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).