ESSEX JUNCTION — In front of a room full of public defenders, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a law Thursday to decriminalize limited amounts of marijuana, making Vermont the 17th state to take this step.
Under the new law, it is a civil fine rather than a criminal offense to possess one ounce or less of marijuana. Currently, it’s a misdemeanor subject to up to six months in jail for a first offense. People under 21 will be referred to court diversion for their first offense; on their third time, they can be prosecuted for a criminal offense.
Vermont legalized medical marijuana in 2004.
The governor signed the law, which goes into effect July 1, at a statewide criminal and juvenile justice training conference at The Essex Resort & Spa, alongside lawmakers who helped escort the bill to passage.
Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, pointed out that the legislation enjoyed tri-partisan support — a rarity, he said, in the arena of drug policy. “It’s often been one that the parties have been at one another’s throat about.”
One of the most prominent Republican supporters of the bill, Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, recounted his first brush with the legal ramifications of marijuana possession.
In 1979, he was at a house in New Jersey when police barged in on a drug raid. Benning, who was arrested for marijuana possession but ultimately had the charge expunged from his record, said the experience stuck.
“I was a member of a rock and roll band, but I swear on my mother’s grave, I did not smoke marijuana at the time but I got busted for it and that began a very long sequence of events for me.”
Supporters say the legislation will prevent the collateral consequences of a criminal record from haunting people caught with small amounts of marijuana.
T.J. Donovan, states attorney for Chittenden County, has been a vocal proponent of decriminalization. Donovan said the law will bring consistency in the prosecution approaches across the state’s 14 counties, and it will make for a more equitable criminal justice system, “Because the poor kid from the Old North End of Burlington should be treated like the rich kid from the Hill in Burlington.”
A recent ACLU report showed that African-Americans in Vermont are 4.36 times more likely to be picked up for marijuana than whites.
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn won praise from the governor and legislators for championing the bill, despite the misgivings of many law enforcement officers. Flynn “really stuck his neck out within the law enforcement community,” said Bobby Sand, a former state’s attorney who now works in the Shumlin administration.
Benning concluded his remarks, by cautioning the crowd public defenders: “We have not legalized marijuana. Please don’t tell your clients that. It is still contraband.”
That was an oft-repeated refrain among supporters of decriminalization during the legislative debates this session.
Benning and Baruth said Wednesday that they know many of their fellow lawmakers have reservations about legalization, and they didn’t want to derail the decriminalization bill by putting legalization on the table. But both senators are hopeful that the new law will make the Legislature more comfortable with the concept.
Baruth predicted resistance to legalization will erode slowly, in the same way that it did for decriminalization.
“It failed 7 or 8 times and each year the coalition got bigger and bigger…. I would imagine the process will probably be similar where you’ll have a legalization bill come out next year, and maybe not make it, but then a couple of times later, it may pass. At which time we’ll probably be the 7th or 8th state,” Baruth said.
Matt Simon, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said his organization will pivot its lobbying efforts to that end. Simon outlined a restrained plan for next year, however — they will “have conversations” with legislators, he said. “We think legislators are going to want to look at the details before they are ready to pass it, but that is something we want to see Vermont talk about.”
Legalization, Simon said, would resolve one of the quirks in the decriminalization bill — cultivating and selling marijuana remains a crime. “It illustrates the fact that decriminalizing doesn’t change the fact that all marijuana is produced and sold illegally on the illicit market so that’s the next issue that I think lawmakers will want to focus on.”
But there are still a number of hurdles ahead of legalization. The chairs of the judiciary committees, in both the Senate and the House oppose it.
Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg, the House chair, said Wednesday that he would stand in the way of such an effort. “I don’t think this is the time or place to look at a legalization of marijuana. It won’t happen under my leadership.”
Correction: The signing took place at The Essex Resort & Spa, formerly called the Inn at Essex. The story originally referred to the Resort by its previous name. Updated 1:45 p.m. on June 7, 2013.
