Updated at 12:45 p.m., February 10, 2017, with a statement from Rebecca Kelley.
Gov. Phil Scott’s administration came out Thursday firmly against a marijuana legalization bill that has sparked interest in the House.
“We oppose this bill,” Vermont State Police Major Glenn Hall told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning.
“We,” as it turns out, extends beyond the state police to the governor and his administration.
“We speak with one voice,” said Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson. “That’s what the governor stands for also.”
Hall’s comments represent a shift from Scott’s own. The newly elected Republican governor has not embraced legalization, but he hasn’t explicitly come out against it either.
Last week, Scott said, “I didn’t say, ‘Never.’ I said, ‘Not now,'” adding that he’d prefer legislators focus on economic issues. He also said that highway safety and protecting youths remain concerns.
Hall was more explicit. He told the House Judiciary Committee that the legalization proposal, based on a law in Washington, D.C., “raises serious public safety concerns” and is largely “unenforceable.”
The committee is considering a bill that would legalize possession of up to two ounces of harvested marijuana, two mature plants and seven immature plants. The bill would not legalize sale or public use of the drug.
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“Two ounces of marijuana, we feel, is a significant quantity,” Hall said. “I think it’s a significant jump when you go from decriminalization to legalization.”
Hall said that if possession of that much marijuana is legal, police will have a harder time arresting dealers. An adult w
aiting in a high school parking lot with two ounces divvied up into smaller portions might be trying to sell that pot to teens, he said, but police won’t be able to simply arrest the person for possession.
“There’s not much I can do, short of witnessing an actual sale, which is not easy to do,” Hall said.
It’s no surprise that state police oppose legalization. But there’s a different dynamic to the debate this year under the administration of Scott, a Republican, than there was last year under Democratic governor Peter Shumlin.
Shumlin strongly supported legalization. His Public Safety commissioner, Keith Flynn, walked a careful middle line, while state police raised technical concerns.
Anderson said that sort of split wouldn’t occur in the Scott administration. “There won’t be different parts of DPS speaking on different sides of a bill,” Anderson said. “We will speak with one voice and it will generally be whatever the governor’s view is.”
The committee’s reaction to Hall’s testimony signaled another change in the debate this year.
When Hall said that legalization would make it harder to keep marijuana out of kids’ hands, committee chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) pushed back, arguing that that was not true of alcohol.
When Hall cited a Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report on how legalization is playing out in Colorado, Grad openly scoffed. That report’s flaws have been widely noted, she said.
A year ago, Grad was skeptical of legalization. This year, she’s sponsoring the legalization bill, minus the Colorado-style taxed and regulated pot shops and lounges.
She said after the meeting that her committee will discuss whether to change the amount of marijuana that would be legal from two ounces to something less.
Scott spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said Friday that while the governor, Public Safety and state police are aligned on the issue, Scott is willing to review any legalization bill the legislature sends him.
“Questions to be answered include a sufficient ability to measure impairment for highway safety, and better understanding impacts on public health,” she said.
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For a state so worried about youth leaving
I find it ignorant to keep cannabis illegal.
A lot of youth dreamed to move to Colorado when they legalized. That dream is more possible with neighboring states that are legal as of now. Esp. now, tax season…
Even the older financially stable people who support legalization will move or have allready.
There are probably even fellow state reps that are classy as can get in VT, that use cannabis
That are completely private about it, due to fellow statesmen being possessed by the ghost of Henry Anslinger.
Reading this from Connecticut, where I had to move to get steady (and much higher paying) employment (and CT is screwed up so that’s saying something). I had hoped that legalization would go through, the economy would get boosted, and I’d be able to return home. Oh well. So much for my 860 to 802 plans for now. Maybe Zuckerman can break bread & cannabutter with Scott and change his mind.
If you disagree with the governor on this I urge you to let him know through letters, faxes, and calls. The people still getting arrested over a plant for no damn reason can’t wait until the governor is personally comfortable enough with the idea to move foreword. There will always be “more pressing concerns” and to dismiss this issue out of hand because he thinks it’s not an important enough concern is offensive.
I guess the question for me about the issue is “what are we so afraid of, that we have to keep illegal, a plant?”
This State is full of qualified and educated doctors to safely prescribe it – in fact they already do.
This State is full of qualified legislators to enact safeguards-they do it every day in the Statehouse.
This State is full of qualified safety enforcement personnel to ensure our public byways remain safe-they do it everyday.
This State is full of passionate educators dedicated to informing the public of reckless use-they do this everyday.
This State is full of qualified, educated health care professionals to help you overcome any abuse or injury resulting in misuse-they do it everyday.
Let’s face it – marijuana legalization in Vermont is a jobs bill.
To say these wonderful residents of this State CAN’T do this when it comes to marijuana is such a slap in the face to all the years of schooling, work experience and compassion they bring to their positions everyday. A travesty. And it really shows that Gov. Scott doesn’t trust them to do this. Guess he’s really not serious about creating jobs and keeping people in State.
Cops are probably opposed to it because they would have to give up all the money they get from stealing our property even before a conviction has taken place. I’d stay and write more but I have to get to the liquor store and buy a few gallons of gin and scotch and a carton of Marlboro’s. I have to meet my dealer out back as well to get more of those awesome Oxycodone pills and some heroin. It’s always good to take a few and wash them down with a shot of Crown Royal on the trip home. It’s nice to know the cops are keeping me safe by keeping that infernal pot off the street.
What a joke really We now are in crisis mode with heroin addicts and a place to get help and rehab and there are people taking up our prison space for pot get with the times goverment folks! Already a fail for Scott….
Scott is going to have to legalize it, especially if New York does it as well and maybe New Hampshire. I think the biggest caution for Scott is that it is still federally illegal and he is afraid of pissing of the feds and that the banks cannot cash the tax money we’ll reap for the legal pot. Too bad Mass is going to beat us and all that money is going south.
So now that he’s Governor, Phil Scott is finally being forced to take actual positions on issues – something he strenuously avoided as a candidate back in 2016.
Guess he can’t just bob and weave any longer.
Too bad he wasn’t willing to tell voters then how he actually stood on issues like this where he stands in opposition to public opinion.
And just how will they raise revenue with no commercial sales. Massachusetts will reap all the goodies. To little too late VT!
As someone who does support legalization (including for regulated sale), two ounces does seem like a lot considering the current bill. One ounce is plenty.