“We know that prohibition has not worked,” Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) said. “Let’s make it safer, less accessible to kids.”
The vote came in response to an amendment White made to another criminal justice bill. The Senate had been awaiting action from the House on legalization, but that chamber had yet to vote as the legislative session nears its early-May adjournment.
Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland) briefly succeeded in derailing White’s amendment when she questioned whether it was sufficiently related — or germane — to the underlying bill. It wasn’t, ruled Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman.
But Senate rules allow the chamber to make a non-germane amendment germane, if they can muster a three-fourths’ majority. They did, by a 23-7 vote — exactly enough to meet the threshold.*
White’s amendment is similar to legislation the Senate passed last year which went on to fail in the House. It would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older and allow them to grow up to two plants and four seedlings as of January 2, 2019. Licenses would be available for commercial cultivators, retailers and lab testing of varying sizes.
Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex/Orleans) argued against legalization. “Here we are passing another drug so we can spend more money for treatment, for care of young people when they get caught up on drugs,” he said.
He complained that the Senate was wasting its time, knowing the House wouldn’t go along with the bill.
“If you had any other drug that 80,000 were using you’d certainly look at whether they should all be criminals,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of law-breakers.”
Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), who voted against the amendment, said he did not want to legalize marijuana as long as there is no roadside test for impaired drivers. “Let’s make sure we have a system in place,” he said.
Sen. Dick McCormack (D-Windsor) argued that Vermont has a serious drug problem, but “that drug problem is not marijuana.”
“Marijuana is not entirely benign,” McCormack said. “It does make friends of mine who are otherwise interesting, annoying. It’s a vice.”
But, he argued, “We don’t treat people like criminals for spending too much time on video games.”
Sears said he is still likely to introduce another amendment next week to establish a study committee to look at how Vermont should tax and regulate marijuana. But he said House Judiciary Committee chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) has made it clear to him that she doesn’t support the study.
Both Sears’ and White’s amendments could become points of negotiations with the House at the end of the legislative session. The House, which has never embraced full legalization, is having trouble even with a watered-down approach: A bill to legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana is stalled in committee.
Gov. Phil Scott has also said that he would not support legalization unless new roadside testing was available for marijuana.
*Correction, April 21, 2017: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the number of votes needed to reach the necessary threshold.
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Let’s go with it, and the h*** with Beauregard K.K.K. Sessions. Stay tough, legislators.
I’m in favor of this, but the specious reasoning that making it legal will make it it less accessible to kids is laughable. Nothing that has had an increased supply has ever been less available to anyone!
Marijuana consumers deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an All American pastime, booze.
Plain and simple!
Legalize Marijuana Nationwide!
It’s time for us, the majority of The People to take back control of our national marijuana policy. By voting OUT of office any and all politicians who very publicly and vocally admit to having an anti-marijuana, prohibitionist agenda! Time to vote’em all OUT of office. Period. Plain and simple.
Politicians who continue to demonize Marijuana, Corrupt Law Enforcement Officials who prefer to ruin peoples lives over Marijuana possession rather than solve real crimes who fund their departments toys and salaries with monies acquired through Marijuana home raids, seizures and forfeitures, and so-called “Addiction Specialists” who make their income off of the judicial misfortunes of our citizens who choose marijuana, – Your actions go against The Will of The People and Your Days In Office Are Numbered! Find new careers before you don’t have one.
The People have spoken! Get on-board with Marijuana Legalization Nationwide, or be left behind and find new careers. Your choice.
Legalize Nationwide!
.
.
Tom A. Perhaps you’d care to ‘splain why school children surveyed by the Federal government report that drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco are much harder to obtain than cannabis?
Perhaps you’d also be so kind as to ‘splain to me why neither Colorado or Washington have seen an increase in youth use after almost 4 1/2 years of re-legalization?
How about if you ‘splain why you think that turning over the responsibility of enforcing age restrictions to organized criminal syndicates and individuals who don’t mind committing serial felonies in the normal course of business is the optimal way to mitigate the opportunities for youth to get their hands on some cannabis?
I am agnostic on the topic other than approving of pot for medical purposes.
I do find it hard to comprehend why having access to pot is such a big deal..
Are people today not able to live rich, enjoyable lives without it? Are we needing more dependencies? I had a fling with it years ago but got on with finding more useful hobbies that didn’t tend to paralyze me.
Not like you’re talking about coffee or ice cream.
I refuse to even consider voting for a Republican again, until marijuana is legalized. Period!
Vermont voters take close note of those politicians who vote against legalization. These are the politicians and lawmakers that are corrupt and answer to either organized crime or big International corporations who are against legalization for financial reasons. Anyone who’s done their homework knows that cannabis is by far safer than alcohol and tobacco which together are responsible for over 500,000 deaths per year in the United States alone.
There is no record of anyone getting addicted,or overdose on it!! Maybe if the Hippocrates that drink Their alcohol stop saying it’s a dangerous drug until they can prove it!! People on. Alcohol are the dangerous one’s and are addicted to it!! They have proven that has long list of help with no side effects!!
And if they only realized the tax revenue they would be glad to legalize it!! And if they research it they would find that it can replace the addictive drugs with no Side affects!!
@ FruSessions
Guess you didn’t read the article. Democrats in the Senate voted against this legalization bill, and the House, which is against legalization altogether, is Democratically controlled.
Get a clue.
It’s nice to know that we have smart and empathetic legislators in the senate, now voters will really have to do our work to get rid of the backwards and fear-mongering people in the Vermont house. Legalizing marijuana has been overwhelmingly beneficial in all the places that lead Vermont on this issue. And that list is growing every year.
When in doubt as to whether freedom may have some risks, make it illegal… right. Yes, get rid of McCormack, override Scott. Take our freedom back from these obsessive controllers.
Go ahead and legalize it; nothing better than competing against a stoner for a good job.
prohibition has worked wonders! let’s keep it up! I can’t give you any numbers to support this but I’m telling you, I feel like if we legalized pot, people might start shooting up heroin! which no one does. because it’s prohibited, see.
Good on the Vermont Senate! Not so for the Democrats in the House. Voting against the
decades long call for legalization, waiting to see how it all plays out in Massachusetts and
elsewhere, disregarding the majority of citizens who FAVOR legalization. This is why the
Democrats have lost before and will lose again. Take a tip from Bernie Sanders, Vermont
Democrats, and stand up for something! Bearing in mind that you are supposed to reflect
the will of the voters, not the lobbyists.
If the House won’t go along with it, then we will vote more pro-pot candidates to take their seats. It’s as simple as that. You stand in the way of progress, you will get pushed out of the way eventually.
This state is held hostage by tax-and-spend Democrats and conserve-and-complain Republicans. We need both parties to be on the same page for this to work. Continuing to use the heroin epidemic and supposed lack of impairment tests as barriers to legalization will only galvanize those who wish to see it passed.
So if Phil Scott and the crybabies that oppose legalization are listening, GET OUT OF THE WAY or lose your seats!