Update: The House voted to pass S. 22 by vote of a 79 to 66 and the legislation will now go to Governor Phil Scott for his signature or veto. Call the Governors office at (802) 828-3333 and send him an email below.
Update: The Senate has passed on May 5 an unrelated bill (S. 22) to include the provisions of H. 170. It maintains House approved language eliminating penalties for the possession and cultivation of personal use amounts of marijuana by July 2018, but also creates a new Marijuana Regulation Commission, to draft legislation by November 1, 2017 that “establishes a comprehensive regulatory and revenue system for an adult-use marijuana market that, when compared to the current illegal marijuana market, increases public safety and reduces harm to public health.” The commission’s bill would be ready for a vote by January 2018.
H. 170 will now have to be considered and passed as amended by the House before the legislative session ends Saturday or will not become law.
Update: Members of the Senate voted 21 to 9 on April 21 in favor of an unrelated House bill, H. 167, which Senators had amended to include language to legalize the recreational marijuana market. Other Senate amendments in the bill mimic language in H. 170, which eliminates criminal and civil penalties specific to the possession or cultivation of personal use quantities of cannabis. The amended version of H. 167 now returns to the House for further action.
Update: H 490 has been read for the first time and referred to committee in the House.
Rep. Samuel Young has introduced H. 490 to regulate the commercial and retail marijuana market.
H. 490 establishes a regulated system whereby adults may legally obtain marijuana from state-licensed retail providers and sellers.
Statewide polling reports that a majority of Vermont voters support legalizing and regulating marijuana. According to a RAND Corporation study, regulating the commercial sale of cannabis in Vermont would generate $20 million to $75 million annually in new tax revenue.
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