Lawmakers in Rhode Island have approved legislation for the second straight year that would repeal the state's mandatory-minimum drug laws, but Gov. Don Carcieri says he will veto the measure as he did last year, the Providence Journal reported May 30.

The measure passed 52-13 in the state House of Representatives this week after previously being approved in the state Senate. Criminal-defense lawyers, prisoner-rights advocates and minority activists are backing a group of related measures that would reduce sentences, provide for early release of prisoners, and allow some offenders to have their criminal records wiped clean.

Currently, state law calls for a minimum of 10 years in prison for selling or planning to sell an ounce or more of heroin or cocaine, for example. Possessing more than five kilos of any substance containing marijuana could result in life in prison.