White, chair of the Senate Government Operations Committee, unveiled her bill Saturday at a meeting of Senate Democrats. Senate committees are expected to work on the legislation next month, though political leaders have made clear there’s no guarantee legalization will pass in 2016.
White’s committee has been meeting throughout the summer and fall to discuss how to go about legalizing marijuana in Vermont. What White came up with is a 41-page bill she is sponsoring herself, as committee members lacked consensus on the issue.
Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor), who opposes legalization, said he won’t stop work on the bill, but he’s prepared to limit the amount of time the Senate spends on the issue.
The leash he offered was fairly short. “If we don’t do this within a few weeks, then I think we pass this off … maybe into the next biennium,” Campbell said.
White is proposing to have the Department of Public Safety oversee regulation of marijuana through a new entity called the Cannabis Control Board. The board, modeled after the Liquor Control Board, would establish and enforce rules related to growing, using and selling marijuana, White said.
White’s bill allows for a limited number of permits to be issued to Vermont residents to grow marijuana in secure settings, to manufacture marijuana-related products such as creams and to sell marijuana to consumers.
No more than 84 stores would be permitted to sell up to one ounce to Vermonters and one-quarter ounce to out-of-staters.
As many as 42 lounges would be permitted to sell up to one-quarter ounce for on-premise consumption, much like bars now serve alcohol.
Senators who heard White’s proposal Saturday noted the oddity of allowing marijuana users to smoke in lounges while tobacco users are not allowed to smoke in bars. White explained the rationale: If the bill didn’t allow for marijuana lounges, out-of-state skiers, for example, would not have a place to legally consume the drug. That might prompt them to sneak it into hotels or consume in their cars, she said.
The bill does not legalize sale or consumption of edible marijuana products such as brownies. People also would not be able to consume marijuana in public, White said. Landlords and employers would be allowed to prohibit possession or consumption on their premises.
White’s bill will be sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is likely to make changes with input from other committees. It would be up to the Senate Finance Committee to determine the amount of fees and taxes for permits and marijuana sales, she said.
If the bill passes the Senate, it would also need approval of the House and Gov. Peter Shumlin to become law. Shumlin has said he supports the idea but has yet to decide if the time is right.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
We’d all be better off if the police would focus on crimes that have actual victims.
Does anyone, other than those who pad their pockets from prohibition honestly believe that wasting $20 Billion and arresting 3/4 Million Americans annually for choosing a substance scientifically proven to be safer than what the govt allows, is a sound policy?
i want to move to Vermont sounds like a peaceful place
I’m not much of a pot user but I prefer edibles because I don’t like to smoke. Edibles are legal in other states and they also stop second hand smoke as well as just the smell of it.
Before they start crafting bills, they need to publisize the report from the delegation they sent to Colorado. We spent a lot of tax dollars to send 4 people to Colorado for them to study the effects of legalization there. WHERE IS THAT REPORT???????? What was discovered? Before we make a decision we need the facts. Will it effect the homeless population here like it did in Colorado? Just because it will bring in money does not mean it will not cost us more int he long run for public services. Substantial increase in ER visits? Where is the data?
Seven days- please refer to the plant as cannabis. At least drop the use of the word marijuana. It’s old, racist slang
Yeah, stop calling it marijuana. Call it dope.
I’m much more interested in medical than recreational cannabis. For the latter, been there, done that, over 30 years ago. For the former, I want hemp oil to be available over the counter, for those of us who want to use it to treat cancer and a host of other ailments.
Unfortunately people, especially our doctors, for the most part do you not understand that we all make marijuana compounds known as Endo cannabinoid’s. They regulate everything in our bodies from conception till death.Their anti-inflammatory properties make them essential anti-aging nutrients for modern man. Their use inhibits metabolic syndrome, cancer and they also discourage the use of narcotics and alcohol through their regulation of the we reward center of our brains drbob
THC derived from marijuana and CBDs are both healing chemicals provided by the cannabis marijuana and hemp plants respectively. Cannabadiol, the photosynthetic form of endocannabandoids from the cannabis species that the human body self creates, may support improvements in a number of health issues. The FDA makes it illegal to state that it can cure, but you need to find out for yourself what exactly it can do. The Chinese call the hemp the medicine and the marijuana, the drug. It is entirely legal to purchase and consume CBD’s, I should know, I am opening a business to sell them on January 1, Hempfully Green Healing House Inc. Interested people can contact me on my facebook page Hempfully Green Healing House Inc.
The time is right , right now it is time to do this