Updated at 4:17 p.m.
Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday vetoed pending legislation that would legalize marijuana in Vermont. But he promised to work with lawmakers to fashion a new bill that might win his support next month.
“I am not philosophically opposed to ending the prohibition on marijuana,” Scott said at a highly anticipated press conference in his Montpelier office. “However … we must get this right.”
The legislation would have allowed adults over age 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow as many as two mature plants per household, starting in July 2018. It also would have created a commission to report back by November with a plan to tax and regulate marijuana sales, as other states have done.
The Republican governor said Wednesday that he would provide legislators with “explicit” recommendations to craft a bill that might meet his approval. He suggested that lawmakers tackle them when they reconvene July 21 for an expected two-day veto session.
The governor’s office later released a list of written recommendations calling for “clear” penalties for the sale of marijuana to minors and the use of the drug in vehicles occupied by children. The list also called for “broader membership” on the commission studying taxation and regulation, as well as more time for it to issue its report.
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said he received a verbal outline of the governor’s suggestions from Scott’s legislative liaison, Kendal Smith. “It sounds like there’s some room to work with him,” Sears said.
The senator said he had been expecting the governor to veto the bill based on his comments over the last few weeks. “So I’m pleased he’s willing to work with the legislature,” Sears said.
His counterpart, House Judiciary Committee chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown), also saw a silver lining in Wednesday’s announcement.
“While I’m disappointed, it could’ve been a veto and nothing else, so I do see that as an opening,” she said.
Sears said that acquiescing to the governor on smoking in cars is unlikely to be problematic but that delaying the commission’s report could be. “I was hoping for something quicker,” he said. “In Massachusetts, they’ll be selling it in July 2018.”
Grad agreed. “I need to think about that,” she said.
The House Judiciary chair said that the logistics of moving a new measure through the legislature in two days next month could be a challenge. It would require the Republican minority to agree to suspend legislative rules to speed the process. “I’m hoping [the governor] will work on all sides of the aisle and help us take that path,” she said.
But House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton) later made clear that he would not play ball. He said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that he saw “no reason to expedite or circumvent the legislative process by suspending rules” to pass a new legalization bill during the veto session.
“There’s a lot of people in our caucus opposed to legalizing marijuana,” Turner said later in an interview. “I don’t see that changing.”
Without the support of a significant number of Turner’s 53-member Republican caucus, the House would lack the votes to suspend the rules. Turner said Scott’s staff did not seek his support to help advance the legislation this year. “They said, ‘We’re not asking for anything, but here’s what we’re doing,'” Turner said.
Opponents and proponents of legalization alike lobbied Scott aggressively in recent weeks as they awaited his decision on the bill.
On Wednesday, the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics praised Scott’s veto in a statement. “Legalizing recreational marijuana would have created substantial risks to the health and development of Vermont’s children and adolescents, and normalized the use of the drug in ways that had great potential to increase youth use rates,” the group said.
Supporters of legalization were disappointed in Scott’s veto. Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat, called it “very short-sighted.”
“I am sad to see the governor disregard the will of most Vermonters and reduce individual liberties in our state,” he said in a statement.
Other legalization supporters vowed to keep fighting.
“We’re encouraged that there’s a path forward,” said Laura Subin, director of the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana. “I think it’s workable.”
Eli Harrington, a legalization supporter and co-founder of the advocacy organization Heady Vermont, was less optimistic that a new bill could be crafted to meet Scott’s demands. “I think it’s probably pretty doubtful,” he said.
After Wednesday’s press conference, however, Scott’s staff approached both Subin and Harrington and asked if they’d be willing to have a conversation with administration officials about the next steps.
“I wish we’d had it sooner, but anytime,” Harrington told Scott staffer Ethan Latour.
That outreach stands in contrast to Scott’s previous involvement in marijuana legalization. His staff testified before legislators when asked but generally did not get involved in helping them craft a bill that would have been acceptable to him.
The 58-year-old governor, who said he’s never consumed marijuana himself, reiterated Wednesday that he doesn’t see legalization as a priority.
“There’s nothing that says we have to do this,” he said.
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Scott is a complete hack, just another Republican moron far out of touch with his constituents.
Our governor demonstrates that he’s out of sync with the voters.
That’s why a two year term is beneficial…
Bye bye Mr. Scott.
Thank you, Gov Scott, for keeping Vermont in the Dark Ages! Now hundreds upon hundreds of Vermonters get to drive over the border and spend their hard-earned dollars boosting everyone else’s economies but ours! Well done, sir. I hope you understand you have just committed political suicide!
Scott stated that he would not okay legislation this session, and he stated why he would not.
It was not a priority for him. I’ve found he generally does as he says… He is likely to support a bill, however.
“Scott stated that he would not okay legislation this session, and he stated why he would not.
It was not a priority for him. I’ve found he generally does as he says…:”
That’s exactly the problem.
What an asshole.
We get the politicians that we deserve. He’s open to a compromise? What a load of baloney. Scotts idea of compromise is doing exactly as he dictates. People smoking pot are most likely a lot less to cause harm to themselves or others than the beer swilling rednecks that frequent Thunder Road.
The stoners have become completely unhinged over this issue. Smoke your weed and stop whining.
Certainly are a lot of tweaked potheads out there, chill out! VT has a history of doing things the right way, we’ll get there.
I don’t touch the stuff, but I took an oath to support the constitution and took it as the REAL Constitution, not this forgotten hack job one that has stripped all our freedoms by undereducated overpowered power hungry politicians who don’t listen to the people. Glad to not Vote for Scott next election if something this common since and restrictive is not passed. #ByeByeScott
“The stoners have become completely unhinged over this issue. Smoke your weed and stop whining.”
This has little to do with weed and everything to do with basic common sense, but hey whatever narrative helps you sleep at night.
Union busting-reefer madness – what next a visit from Jeff Sessions? How about KKK revival governor.
It’s insulting that Governor Scott believes that by legalizing marijuana people will just start driving around smoking with their kids in the car… that’s already illegal Mr. Scott. The vast majority of Vermonters are responsible with this drug, using it in the privacy of their own homes. No one’s asking to legalize it so they can ride around stoned out of their minds, especially with their own children in the car.
You ask for a roadside test that simply does not exist, and that other legal states have found no issue with.
Vermont has had one of the highest prevalences of drug use in the country among younger age cohorts long before marijuana was even decriminalized here. You say you’re concerned about the children, yet youth drug use has been shown to decrease in states that have legalized.
Your policy decisions are not based off of reality. I did not vote for you and I do not plan to next year.
Really?! We REALLY thought he would sign it??
I thought marijuana didn’t make you angry. Guess I was wrong …
Good old Gov. Scott. We Vermonters need to strive for full employment for the drug dealers.
If marijuana had become legal then Zuckerman’s purpose would have been reduced to abolishing vaccines.
Stop stalling already! This is an important issue. It’s about no longer making it ok for the state to strip responsible adults of their rights and property because they choose to use a relatively harmless and beneficial plant.
Thank you for vetoing. We don’t need more enabling and placebos.
It isn’t that Scott is “out of touch with his constituents”. It is that he simply does not respect the minds of the majority of his constituents and their elected legislators. In his “libertarian” mind he alone knows best, as his is the supreme intellect…the great leader that knows best what is good for us incompetents. Thanks dad. The invocation of veto is the ultimate in anti-libertarian thinking. Scott does exactly as he pleases, but without the courage to do it honestly. Marmosets elected Trump, and marmosets elected Scott. Is there anything unexpected here? In the words of another great thinker, you Mr. Scott, are “fired’.
It’s not about revenue it’s just common sense legislation. It’s letting people have the freedom to smoke if they want without fear of imprisonment. Just because you turn 18 you don’t race to the store to get cigarettes. Some people do some don’t. Stop making it an issue. We need to grow up as a nation and stop making things like weed so taboo . Get over it. There will not be an influx of people. Massachusetts is legal and Trudeau is going to decriminalize marijuana in Canada. We need to stop my making it and issue…good by mister Scott….no reelection for you
Amazing how these people all come out of the woodwork to whine and shout at Gov Scott veto on their pot smoking, but you never see their voice about anything on important issues in here..but unlike David Zuckerman, I’m not a pot smoker..he must be biting nails in half because of the veto..lol
Playing the child card as a reason makes you a wimp Mr. Phil. Tell us the REAL reason for your Veto? No law stops someone from driving around in a car with a child, drunk, on drugs or otherwise. Making it illegal for that reason doesn’t stop someone from driving while impaired. Ask the thousands of people driving to work on prescription drugs.
I don’t understand the logic of going about this for so long after states like Colorado have solid stats that stand up to the typical arguments. Must we always think that every state is a foreign land where things like this have not happened before or that somehow “our state” can do it better.
What a waste of time and money.
I sense a new governor on the horizon.
Guess my taxes aren’t going down anytime soon.
It’s frustrating that our legislators have yet to introduce comprehensive marijuana legislation, especially given that they have their pick of other states to study and model it off of. Tourism is a significant contributor to Vermont’s economy, and people will flock to VT, as they did to Colorado, when we legalize marijuana. Legalization will also create jobs for Vermonters. I don’t understand this concern for high drivers: stoners drive slowly and much less dangerously than drunks or even tired people. Lastly, people tend to do a lot of drugs in Northern, rural areas where there may be little to do, especially in the Winter. I’d rather see someone smoke a bowl and watch movies on their couch than go get drunk or decide to try heroin. I hypothesize that making marijuana legal and available will, to an extent, supplant the use of heroin and alcohol.
Thank you Governor Scott for keeping your word.
I like some of what he’s doing. I didn’t vote for him and this will keep me for ever voting for him. Btw I don’t use. But unlike a lot of people on here, I know how well prohibition works. And unlike Phil I’m not so easily drawn in by a bunch of BS “stats and facts”. I guess If I did use I’d just go out of state to buy like I do for everything else.
The recommendations show how clueless Scott is when it comes to Marijuana use. Don’t smoke pot in a car with kids? I mean, duh, that’s great advice and all but does it really need to be a law? Has anyone ever heard of that happening amongst the current 100,000 Vermont marijuana users? Common sense legislation should be aimed at actual problems, not irrational beliefs.
“The 58-year-old governor, who said hes never consumed marijuana himself, …”
This not only is an example of ignorance determining policy, but also shows the incredible lack of curiosity and experience of our political leaders. You have to be without any will for personal discovery to have never experimented with pot, or just untruthful, whichever it is, it isn’t good.
look, I don’t use, but i believe _____, and as far as Mr. Scott goes, well, as a non-user, I think ______. Now regardless of whether or not I use–which I don’t–I just think it’s common sense that _____, at least from a non-user perspective. I just want to make sure that everyone on this comment section, users and non-users (of which I am one … a non-user) knows that I believe ______. And that I don’t use. Thanks for your honest input, Vermonters.
@timothy price, I assume you do know that the majority of Legislators that voted in favor of the marijuana law have never endulged either, or are being untruthful. Does their lack of curiosity render their position uninformed and ignorant as well?
Dumb dumb dumb Scott. Sure, commercial would create increases in bad outcomes. Not a 2oz personal grow. Please…
The reaction of the stoners is quite comical!
Some of our politicians and lawmakers would rather destroy the lives of citizens and veterans than stand up to their masters at big booze, private prisons and pharmaceutical corporations and legalize cannabis.
All the information needed for a decision on cannabis legalization has already been collected and can be found at the Center for Disease Control.
Figures directly from the CDC on numbers of deaths per year in the US:
* Prescription Drugs: 237,485 + 5000 traffic fatalities
* Tobacco: 390,323
* Alcohol: 88,013 + 16,000 traffic fatalities
* Cocaine: 4,906
* Heroin: 7,200
* Aspirin: 466
* Acetaminophen (Tylenol): 179
* Marijuana: 0, none, not a single fatal toxic overdose in 5,000 years of continuous use and almost no traffic problems.
So, which is safer???? Legalize, regulate, TAX!
@ Bob Frazier: You are asking if the members of the Vermont Legislature who have no experience with marijuana and voted to legalize it, is their decision based upon lack of curiosity and ignorance. Absolutely not.
In America we are free individuals, unfettered by government restrictions unless there is compelling evidence that something must be forbidden. The Legislature is recognizing that with marijuana, no such compelling reason exists, and therefore they are voting to remove this abuse of government power which was only enacted through deception and the wish to protect corporate monopolies.
Anti-pot crusader Kevin Sabet has been bragging about all the money they spent in Vermont to get that veto. Wonder where it went?
Yeah wants to fix it!! Tell me the governor did not know the republicans caucus stand on this bill?? He makes an excuse for his veto by suggesting changes knowing that it ain’t going to happen in the two day session. The study committee is a bunch of BS also. He has found a way to lay the blame for his inaction on others. If you research the enforcement issue you will find that the state police and local law enforcement have been dealing with drug impaired drivers for a number of years now. They have it figured out all ready. Just another head in the sand knee jerk reaction.
Most of you did not hear the Governor answer a question posed by Eli Harrington of Heady Vermont during his press conference. You can see the full video on Face Book. Both Heady Vermont and Vermont Home Grown have posted it. Eli asked the Governor about Vermont’s most prized industry, tourism. Eli wanted to know what message that the Governor was sending to vacationers who come from out of state and happen to choose cannabis over alcohol to relax with. The Governor responded that Vermont wants family’s to come to vacation here. Eli asked what about cannabis users. The governors response was to suggest that those people should find another state to spend their money in. There goes at least half of our tourism dollars. If I lived in Massachusetts and wanted to take my legal home grown cannabis with me on vacation, I would rather spend time in a State like Maine which respects the right of it’s citizens to choose a non alcoholic, non narcotic, tobacco free plant to relax with.
Governor Scott, Just between you and me a lot of parents need to smoke a joint after a long day when the children have gone to sleep.
Governor Scott, Please meet with Dr. Joe McSherry. He gave testimony to the Human Services Committee on youth prevention that may change your mind. He told us that the issues with 14 to 18 year old youth stem form environmental factors. He said that the abuse of any substance by youth’s is an attempt to medicate for anxiety caused by multiple factors unique to each situation. Unfortunately, State representative Francis “Topper” Fawn lied to the full house about his testimony.
I voted for Governor Scott, but I’ve lost a lot of respect for him after watching his handling of this bill. Why wait until hours before the bill would have been become law to weigh in with recommendations? That conversation could easily have happened a month or two ago. That’s just plain mis-management.
The Governor’s concern for safety is obviously important, but we’ve already been living with every one of those issues for some time and I haven’t seen any initiative to address them before this bill came along. Is the Governor really saying that as long as people are driving while smoking pot illegally (as they do now) our kids and roads are safe, but once they can can do it legally we will suddenly be in danger? Based on the experiences of 8 other states, there is no data to support this.
Whether it’s legal or not has little to do with whether we need to address safety concerns. But those two separate issues keep getting mixed up, as if they go together. They don’t.
“The reality is that Vermonters do use marijuana and so legalization is not about increasing the use of marijuana. It’s about legalizing something that has already gone on, where prohibition has not worked, and so I am in favor of legalization.
“I think there are three main advantages to legalization. First is that it actually will be easier to keep marijuana away from young people. Young people today can find marijuana much more easily than they can obtain alcohol and that’s because it’s not regulated. Second, when you’re buying marijuana on the black market, you don’t know what it is you’re buying. You don’t know the purity of it. You don’t know the the power of it. If it’s sold through licensed outlets, there will be regulation and buyers will know they’ll get a safer product. And finally, it should be a source of revenue to the state. These transactions are going on and the state is getting no revenue at all. If it’s legalized, there’ll be more money into the coffers of the state for essential public services.”
Peter Galbraith as a candidate for Governer, VPR News, June 2016
I know everyone is screaming at Gov Scott about this pot deal.. I don’t always agree with Gov Scott on a lot of his ideas.. I don’t smoke pot never had a desire to..You’re saying pot doesn’t harm you, it doesn’t affect you while driving..Well let me tell you I disagree with that, my sister smokes pot when she’s driving..2 things happens ..she’ll get very aggressive while driving or she’ll get to the point where she will start falling asleep….If she wants to smoke wish she would just do it at home..but she won’t..Sorry but I don’t want to see my sister driving and high..You all can say “it doesn’t affect your driving” I have seen what it does to my sister while riding with her..I don’t want her to end up dead nor anyone else.. As for the statement “Just between you and me a lot of parents need to smoke a joint after a long day when the children have gone to sleep. ” Excuse me I had kids and I never had to have a “joint” after a long day with the kids nor a drink.. There’s other ways to relax.!!!