Rhode Island banned disposable plastic straws at restaurants four years ago, never strictly enforced the ban and is now on the verge of trashing it.
State senators on Tuesday, May 5, unanimously passed a bill that would gut most of the law that prohibited establishments from providing plastic straws with drinks unless a customer asked for one.
How would it change the law? If passed by the House, S2639 would let establishments put plastic straws in self-service dispensers for customers to help themselves, which is the way things were at many coffee, fast-food and fast-casual joints before the ban went into effect in 2022…