The Cannabis Catch-Up: Really Powerful Weed 

Vermont’s Statehouse, small and mighty, topped with a golden dome, earned another descriptor last week — cannabis plantation.

That’s right: The Capitol Police Department has found and removed nearly 40 weed or hemp plants from the Montpelier government building’s flower beds since the first one was discovered on July 8.

“A visitor to the Statehouse came in and told one of my officers, ‘Hey, I think there’s a marijuana plant growing out there in the flowerbed,’ and we kinda looked at each other and went, ‘Nahhhhh,’” Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei told Seven Days on Thursday. “And sure enough, we walked out there and we found one — and then we found another. And we’re like, ‘Wow, this is a little bigger than we thought.’ We pulled out everything we could find that day.”

Cops don’t know who did it — and don’t really care to find out. Romei said his department hasn’t even had the plants tested to determine if they’re marijuana or hemp. Their size  indicated they’d been growing for weeks, meaning any video footage of the illicit plantings is likely long gone.

Romei said he’d investigate if the culprit comes forward but doesn’t otherwise intend to expend any effort in finding the Johnny Cannabiseed.

Were you the cannabis crusader? If so, please get in touch: We here at Cannabeat would love to chat!

Here are some other cannabis-related stories we followed the last few weeks:

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July 5: One year after weed legalization in Vermont, first-time growers like Leigh Girouard are enjoying the challenge of cultivating their own. [Elodie Reed, Vermont Public Radio]

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 July 9: We’re in the middle of the hemp-growing season and, despite the boom in CBD-infused products, cultivators don't yet know what prices might be come harvest time this fall. [Anne Wallace Allen, VTDigger.org]

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July 9: Vermont cannabidiol company Sunsoil has planted 100 acres of hemp, amounting to more than 100,000 plants, on its organic farmland in the Northeast Kingdom. It’s double the acreage the company planted last year. [Vermont Business Magazine]

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July 12: New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu, signed into law a bill that would allow those with an arrest or conviction for possessing less than three-quarters of an ounce of weed to petition to have it removed from his or her record. [Dan Tuohy, New Hampshire Public Radio]

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July 16: Officials in West Hollywood, Calif., approved a cannabis café that could become the first of its kind in the country. The open-air restaurant will offer cannabis cuisine and a smoking area, something that upset a rabbi at a synagogue across the street. [Robert Kovacik, KNBC-TV]

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July 16: Maine has a reciprocity agreement with medical marijuana cardholders in nearly two dozen states — including Vermont — and now, New York and New Jersey. That means cardholders are “able to buy some of the nation’s finest — and least expensive — weed when they arrive Down East.” [Sam Wood, the Philadelphia Inquirer]

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July 17: In light of an anticipated heat wave and vendor cancellations, Heady Vermont’s Summer Farm Jam, scheduled for this Saturday at Bordertown Farm in Brattleboro, has been rescheduled until September 28. [Kathryn Blume, Heady Vermont]

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July 17: “The agency overseeing California’s legal marijuana market has been overmatched by the job and is struggling to hire sufficient staff and set an overall strategy for the nation’s largest cannabis economy, an audit found.” [Associated Press]

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July 18: “Leaf peepers who flock to Vermont this fall to view the foliage will also see a new type of plant dotting the landscape, including 40 highly visible acres along Route 100 between Stowe and Morristown.” [Tommy Gardner, Stowe Reporter]

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July 18: Hemp — it’s the real cash crop. [Craig Giammona and Bruce Einhorn, Bloomberg Businessweek]

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July 18: The financial industry’s reluctance to get involved in cannabidiol purchases is hurting Vermont startups that want to make CBD sales online. [Jess Aloe, Burlington Free Press]

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July 18: Cops in Southern California seized about six tons of weed and weapons, and also made 10 arrests during a series of busts at illegal grows. [KABC-TV]

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