PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The state Senate voted 29-4 on Wednesday to override Republican Gov. Don Carcieri’s veto of a bill making permanent the state’s medical marijuana program, according to a spokesman for Senate President Joseph Montalbano.

House lawmakers expect to take a similar vote this week.

Rhode Island became the eleventh state in the country last year to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

The program, which expires June 30, allows patients with cancer, AIDS and other debilitating illnesses to possess up to 12 marijuana plants and 2.5 usable ounces of the drug to ease their symptoms.

Carcieri vetoed the bill, saying it would subject patients to federal prosecutions and encouraged them to buy drugs from illegal dealers.

On Tuesday, Connecticut Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill that would have allowed people with certain serious illnesses to use marijuana to ease their symptoms, saying it was fraught with problems and sent a mixed message to children.