The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave its blessing to a bill that would decriminalize marijuana.
In 9-2 vote, the committee advanced the bill, which will decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. Possession of marijuana plants, and any amount over an ounce, would remain a criminal offense.H.200will be debated on the House floor Friday.
Wednesday’s discussion dealt mostly with technicalities. The committee worked through a series of difficult questions — such as whether or not cultivation should be decriminalized — over the past two weeks.
Committee chair Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, described the final version of the bill as a compromise — the original draft would have decriminalized two ounces as well as small numbers of mature and immature plants — but he still expects a “spirited debate” to take place on the floor.
During the House Republicans’ caucus on Tuesday, Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, announced the caucus would not take a position on decriminalization, after results from an informal straw poll showed no consensus on the matter.
The bill, Lippert says, “offers some consistency across the state,” freeing people from the collateral consequences that come with a conviction of marijuana possession.
Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, a lead sponsor of the bill, said he was “delighted” to see the strong vote out of committee, and he wasn’t disheartened the final bill was a stripped-down version of what he had introduced.
“We made it strong so they would have something to whittle away at,” Pearson said.
Rep. Andrew Donaghy, R-Poultney, was one of two committee members who voted against the bill. Donaghy said he is worried young people will mistake the legislation as legalization, which would, in his view, exacerbate the state’s drug problems.
“My concern is that the term decriminalization is going to be misinterpreted by a number of young people in this state,” Donaghy said.
He said he knows many people “scoff” at the notion that marijuana will lead to more serious drug addictions, but as a law enforcement officer for 20 years, Donaghy said, “I know that marijuana is a gateway drug.”
During each of the committee’s multiple discussions on the bill, Lippert took care to mention repeatedly that the bill does not legalize the drug. Still, several law enforcement officers testified that it will nevertheless give that impression.
Rep. Tom Koch, R-Barre, another Republican committee member who was staunchly opposed to the concept of decriminalization, had a change of heart for the final vote.
“The committee has worked very hard to make the bill better than it was. I still think the basic policy of decriminalizing is not a wise one, but I vote yes,” Koch said.
The bill also makes it clear that it is illegal to smoke marijuana while driving, and it sets up a task force to recommend appropriate penalties for drugged driving. This component of the bill shouldn’t be overlooked, Lippert says, because it addresses a key concern of law enforcement officers. Under this provision, police will not to have to prove that someone is impaired from marijuana — something they say is difficult to do.
Matt Simon, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, lauded the advancement of the bill.
“The people of Vermont and the state’s top law enforcement officials agree that it is time to adopt a more sensible approach to marijuana policy,” Simon said. “Police and prosecutors have more important things to worry about than arresting and prosecuting adults simply for possessing a substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol.”
The Senate Government Operations Committee passed a bill on Tuesday that would authorize a state study of the legalized sale and taxation of marijuana. Sen. Jeannette White, D-Windham, said they advanced the measure forward in anticipation of a legalization amendment that she said will likely be proposed when the decriminalization bill comes to the Senate floor.
