The Human Services Committee heard a steady stream of cautionary tales about legalizing marijuana that ranged from not now — to not ever. “I absolutely don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Margo Austin, a student assistant program counselor at Burlington High School.
Yet the panel’s chair, Rep. Ann Pugh (D-South Burlington) had already declared that a majority of the committee’s 11 members support the bill. She declined to reveal if, or when, a vote or further testimony will take place.
The bill is H.170, and would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana but would not allow retail sale of the drug. The proposed legislation is similar to what’s in effect in Washington, D.C.
The committee is tasked — after House leaders last week feared that they lacked the votes to pass the bill in the full chamber — with studying marijuana prevention efforts in Vermont and also investigating if legalization would affect use among youths. If that information resolves the concerns of some uncertain members, the bill could go back to the floor for a vote, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) has said.
Those wavering were unlikely to come away with any reassurance based on Tuesday’s testimony. The four speakers invited to address the committee urged caution on legalization, or provided evidence that they said proved the state needs more drug prevention services before going ahead.
“We believe legalization of marijuana sends a message to our youth around marijuana that it’s a safe product, and we’re concerned about that,” said Bob Uerz, tobacco use prevention coordinator for the state Agency of Education.
The agency, he told Pugh’s committee, “urges a delay in legalization.”
The committee did not choose — at least not yet — to hear arguments about how youth use has remained relatively unchanged in Colorado since that state legalized marijuana in 2014. Pugh indicated that she wants the committee to hear more about how legalization in Colorado and Washington has impacted young people “the next time we take this up.”
She was circumspect about when that might be. The panel is not scheduled to discuss the bill again this week and Pugh declined to say whether it might next week.
Uerz said this was the first time the Agency of Education had been asked to weigh in on H.170, but the agency’s stance has been long been the same. Uerz called on lawmakers to delay legalization until the state had adequate funding for health educators and drug prevention programs
Uerz said Gov. Phil Scott, who also wants to delay legalization, did not direct the agency to provide that recommendation. Nor, Uerz said, did the agency’s view change from what it had been under pro-legalization former governor Peter Shumlin.
Rep. Brian Keefe (R-Manchester) asked how much it would cost to provide the services Uerz mentioned. Uerz said he didn’t have numbers. “We can generate some estimates,” he said.
The state Health Department, represented coincidentally by Uerz’s wife, Lori Uerz, did not give specific recommendations about legalization. But Lori Uerz, who serves as director of prevention for the department’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, said the state has yet to reach its 2020 goal for youth marijuana use.
The state’s 2015 youth risk behavior survey showed that marijuana use among youths decreased two percentage points from 2013, with 22 percent of youths indicating they had consumed the drug within the previous month. The goal for 2020 is 20 percent.
Of particular concern, Lori Uerz said, are the approximately 7 percent who reported using marijuana 20 or more of the last 30 days. The state’s goal, she said, is to implement a marketing campaign targeting those high users. “We have a lot of kids smoking a lot of pot,” she said.
The state has drug prevention programs in many schools, Uerz said, but only 20 of the state’s 50-plus school supervisory unions have programs to screen students for substance abuse and offer them services.
Legalization advocates are eager to share data from Colorado and Washington, where marijuana possession and sale are legal.
In Colorado, where marijuana became legal in 2014, 21 percent of youths there had consumed marijuana within the last month, according to its youth behavior survey. Those 2015 figures represent a 1 percent increase from 2013 but a 1 percent decrease from 2011. The survey deemed the trend “relatively unchanged.”
The survey showed, however, that fewer teens view regular marijuana use as risky. In 2013, 54 percent said they considered regular use risky, compared to 48 percent in 2015.
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Wow Margo!
I used to have students from BHS and BTC intern with me. Hell I went to school there and sat on the advisory committee for the Tech Center’s Computer System’s course. If anything, I am proof that marijuana does not impede a student’s ability to thrive. I am doing beyond well for myself – and I grew up in poverty and illiterate until age 10! I would love the opportunity to come and speak about this someday.
How can anyone standing up against pot legalisation in this day and age? I have lived in a society where a majority of people have used pot with no I’ll effects. They use it little, occasionally, a lot, or daily. People who fight against pot live among the same people. I have a friend who was on the President’ s council on drug abuse and always talked about hiding most results of pot studies. That had mostly few if any negatives. The results are in, marijuana is okay for adults. It does not lead to other drugs or illegal behavior, or accidents. LEGALIZATION And taxation is good for Vermont.
Prohibitionists are fear mongering liars nothing more.
Remember when Vermont was progressive?
It will be interesting to see if VT tourism is affected negatively by maintaining prohibition. Wait until next season when you can go to Sunday River, ME for example and after skiing with friends all day, the guests will have the opportunity to purchase exotic, legal strains of the plant with no risk. Ok, we can go to Stowe and get busted or be welcomed with open arms in another state who would love any reason at all to have those vacation dollars in their coffers.
It’s nice to read the views of those unafraid to put real names behind their opinions. However, there are reasonable reservations to this drug.
#1 – It’s a drug. Few responsible citizens would idolize alcohol, tobacco, illicit and prescription drugs, or similar vices. Let’s not pretend this is a “harmless” quest on par with meditation.
#2 – We often hear about the positive health effects of MJ on glaucoma, PTSD, chronic pain, etc. Not heard often are its potentially harmful impacts:
#2a – complicates depression or anxiety disorders
#2b – increased CO exposure if smoked
#2c – impact on brain development, namely dopamine receptors
#2d – increased heart rates promote panic attacks & increased risk of heart attack
#2e – 2nd-hand smoke impacts
#2f – ingestion toxicity due to slower release of THC
#3 – Kids I – The Details. We already struggle with keeping legalized drugs out of kids hands.
#4 – Kids II – Morality. What message are we teaching children by saying that MJ is “harmless”?
#5 – Proliferation magnifies problems. Just look at guns: they’re everywhere. Therefore, we have more gun violence. Sure, people drive stoned today. But that will exacerbate under legalization.
Look, it’s unjust that MJ users/dealers are jailed & tarred for life, that patients with serious health ailments have no access to MJ, or that the occasional user in their own home is relegated to the black market. The way forward is to help think through solutions (sans anecdotes) to merited concerns rather than painting the world in black or white.
Top students more likely to smoke pot, drink alcohol, study says
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/health/teens…
And for the cautious: Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety Benjamin Franklin.
If you don’t agree that pot should be legalized then YOU agree we are better off keeping it in the hands of criminals. Alcohol prohibition stopped because of the lawlessness it created, only to turn around and try it with drugs. The same result. More crime, more guns, death, disrupted lives.
Ask our youth what is easier to obtain, controlled alcohol or ANY drug.
I commented once before on this. How can we be ok with a thriving craft beer and craft cider market here in VT, when alcohol does far more harm then marijuana? The last poster states, “let’s not pretend this is a harmless quest on par with medication”…..ummmm there are far more side effects to most pharmaceuticals on the market today then marijuana. In fact some of the more complicated patients I’ve worked with have polypharmacy. The truth is marijuana is here and your kids have accesss to it no matter what. The black market is thriving and there’s no oversight into the quality and safety of what these growers are treating their plants with (pesticides and mold issues.) Once legalized, it will put an unregulated substance to regulated and there will be strict standards and it should take away the dealer’s profit and possible ill harming growing practices. It will also make sure that people are over 21, and provide income to VT’s tax delimma. Yes smoking anything is bad for you, but it gets to the point where people are going to decide if it’s for them or not. Why not reap in the tax benefits instead of giving the black market all of the untaxed revenue while providing a safer, cleaner product?
I’ll end with this….nurse here of 5+ years….never saw a patient with significant health problems from marijuana use. Alcohol and cigarettes on the other hand, almost everyday I’m on the floor.
Everyone who wants to use marijuana can use it now, it’s very easy to obtain anywhere. The only difference legalization would make is directing funds towards our community instead of the black market.
As more states and countries around the world legalize, Vermont falls backwards. Nobody is saying marijuana is safe: Alcohol and tobacco aren’t safe; motorcycles aren’t safe; skiing isn’t safe. A police state is VERY safe, but most Americans would agree they would not want to trade our guaranteed freedom for guaranteed safety.
I am so proud to live in a progressive state like Vermont that has historically led the nation in sensible, just, and humane laws. It is long past due to legalize marijuana, this drug has been falsely maligned since Nixon decided he would demonize a relatively harmless drug for his own agenda. Criminalize alcohol and tobacco, then we can talk about all the ‘doom and dire consequences’ that will follow the legalization of weed.
I am SHOCKED and surprised that Margot Austin (a licensed drug counselor) and Bob Uerz(anti tobacco guy) who clearly stand to profit personally from the continued prohibition of ganja don’t want legalization to happen. Margot Austin’s testimony linked in the article is above would have me rolling on the ground laughing if it wasn’t so sad that this clearly biased person somehow was invited to provide testimony to State Reps who will be influenced by her fear mongering which is designed to keep her career ($$$) afloat. What a joke. This is “think of the children” caterwauling at it’s absolute worst. Rational, unbiased people don’t fall for this propaganda anymore.
These Baby Boomers are simply teaching the children the meaning of hypocrisy.
Tiki Archambeau, Not one of the points that you have made is valid. Please educate your self. H.170 when passed will begin the end of the 75 + years of lies propagated by our government. Home Grow will put a dent in the sales of imported cannabis. Home Grow will help the thousands of Vermonter’s who are not included in Vermont’s restrictive medical program. H.170 will help low income Vermonter’s who need medical cannabis.
This is about civil rights to use a non toxic plant. I am only sorry that H.490 was hung on the wall in the House. These bills are well written and address the needs of the small growers who have been here for decades.
In the largest, most comprehensive study ever undertaken, smoking mj, even for long term heavy smokers, did not hurt lung function.
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/…
The NHTSA, in the largest, real life study ever of over 20,000 drivers involved in car crashes determined that mj did not increase the likelihood of a car crash.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/marijuana-doe…
@Brian M. Kaplan: Your ability to quote others is akin to Towelie keying a code into a government building. Look again.
@Fran Janik: Every last concern of mine over legalization is valid. Your dismissal of others’ concerns is why MJ is still illegal. FYI: Pot is not a protected class.
Happy to cite as many legitimate studies as necessary to counterbalance the pot-is-harmless studies (won’t do it for anonymous posters). But to what end? It’s still a drug. We can do this in baby steps or not at all. The obstinacy and hatred on this board pretty much makes this an all or nothing debate. Therein lies the fate of pot legislation.