Updated at 3:26 p.m.
The Vermont Senate voted Wednesday to legalize marijuana in the state, starting in July.
The legislation, which passed the Vermont House last week and won approval in the Senate by a voice vote, now goes to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk. The first-term Republican has said he would sign it into law. That would make Vermont the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana through legislative action, rather than a referendum.
The Senate made quick work of the bill Wednesday afternoon, approving it with virtually no discussion, just minutes after convening for the day. The institution has debated the subject at length in recent years — voting in 2016 and 2017 to legalize the drug.
In brief remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) thanked colleagues who opposed the legislation but nevertheless worked to improve the bill.
Later Wednesday, he characterized the vote as “a step in a process to a more rational system.”
Like many senators, Ashe had hoped to pass more expansive legislation that would have permitted sale and taxation of marijuana. But in a compromise with the House last year, it agreed to a narrower approach: legalizing possession for those 21 and older — and cultivation of up to two mature and four immature pot plants.
Scott vetoed that bill last May, citing concerns about drugged driving and youth use. After legislative leaders agreed to slight revisions, the governor said he would sign it.
Ashe said Wednesday that the Senate still supported a tax-and-regulate system. But, he added, “Despite our best efforts to convince the House and the governor, that just wasn’t going to happen.” He said a second major marijuana reform bill was unlikely this legislative session.
“We’ve had that discussion,” Ashe said. “We spent considerable time in 2016 and 2017 on a tax-and-regulate system. So this year I think it would be pulling us away from things that are much larger priorities.”
During Wednesday’s abbreviated debate, Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex/Orleans) delivered what he called a “history lesson” about the role of hemp in the United States.
Rodgers, who grows hemp on his property in Glover, noted that uniforms worn by soldiers in the American Revolution were made with the fiber.
“Were it not for the historically forgotten and currently disparaged marijuana plant, the Continental Army would have froze to death at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,” Rodgers said. “Fun fact.”
Disclosure: Tim Ashe is the domestic partner of Seven Days publisher and coeditor Paula Routly. Find our conflict-of-interest policy here: sevendaysvt.com/disclosure.
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https://vtdigger.org/2018/01/10/senate-pas…
OK. The genie is out of the bottle (or bong, as the case may be). At least there are no provisions for the State to regulate dispensaries and tax MJ in order to increase government revenues. On the other hand, I would like to propose that all financial penalties be doubled with the additional fines going directly to Vermont’s Education Fund for the exclusive purpose of funding School Choice Tuition vouchers.
After all, it’s all about enlightenment and liberty…right.
If the Governor signs the bill he is failing in his duty to lead the people of Vermont to a more productive future. Weed is BAD because it negatively impacts the neurophysiology of all who engage in its use. Enlightened legislation would never legitimize destructive behaviors, especially with the motive of profiting by it by taxing the revenues produced. That reasoning is a fool’s errand for sure! The result is bad money obtained through wrong motivation and action. These revenues will lead the state to no end that is useful and productive.
Vermont would be far better off by attempting to lure legitimate business investment into the state because Vermont has always had a problem with the lack of good jobs; I left 40 years ago because of the lack of opportunity in the state. I doubt this will ever happen however!
If the Governor had any sense he would follow his original instinct and veto the bill for a second time. Apparently, the people of Vermont do not know what is good for them. So LEAD Governor Scott! Do Not follow the masses who are very much wrong on this issue.
Ha-ha! I am the third commenter and I have the two who precede me. One a proponent of School Choice, one a rabid prohibitionist that wants to return Vermont to its glorious Republican past. I mean, really, “Weed is BAD” without any supporting citations, just personal arrogance talking. People have been smoking weed for decades in Vermont and we’ve gotten along better with those smokers than with the drinkers, who cause accidents and kill people.
We are the ninth state to legalize marijuana, the first to do it by legislation. No citizen written petitions, but good legislative work to get to a consensus on the way to move forward. I see no doom or gloom, only a chance to try something different than criminalizing people who use a substance less dangerous than the alcohol that draws us to bars and restaurants, with the concomitant driving associated with it.
It’s ridiculous that a pro-business Republican will sign a bill legalizing recreational use of marijuana but veto a bill legalizing recreational use of marijuana and taxing it.
stellaquarta- You have your facts wrong. Try again.
Vermont’s legislators who voted for legalization are obviously stoned and therefore, their judgment, impaired. Scott is a RINO.
The vermont legislator has wasted enough time debating the hypocrisy surrounding legalization of marijuana. Marijuana has been denied for to long to patients in need of its powerful healing compounds. This plant has the ability to revolutionize pain management as we know of it today.
It is now up to Phil to hold True to his promise to the people of Vermont. We should no longer be subjugated to harsh criminal penalties for consuming a plant that has such incredible powers to help us in so many ways.
You have got to be kidding me!! Vermont finally legalized pot which they should have done about 5 years ago!
But you cannot figure out how to tax it?? All we have heard about the Vermont budget is that we have to raise income and property taxes to pay for our dwindling tax base. Here we have an excellent source of revenue that might relieve some of that burden and we cannot figure out how to tax it? Are we depending on the current drug dealers to start paying income taxes on what they are selling now? Even a state as wacky as Massachusetts figured out how to tax it. We don’t have to re-invent the wheel here. Just copy what they did! We could make a ton of tax money from tourists! If this is the first baby step, I hope the next steps are a sprint to do this right!!
Taylor, can you link the actual bill – all of the reports thus far have very little detail about the actual law, and it’s really hard to find the text of the bill in the legislative record (for me at least).
Please post a link to the text of the bill as passed by the House and Senate. Thanks!
Margo Howland
Found it.
Here’s the bill as passed by the House
https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Doc…
This legislation is just the beginning; it’s like throwing a bone to satisfy a salivating dog. Tax and other revenue generating legislation will follow, along with strong penalties for violating those laws and messing with the states cash flow from legal marijuana.