The House passed the marijuana decriminalization bill today, with one modification.
H.200, which was given preliminary approval after a lengthy floor debate last Friday, emerged nearly untouched after a barrage of amendments and almost four more hours of debate.
The bill makes it a civil penalty rather than a criminal offense to possess an ounce or less of marijuana. Approved in a 92-49 vote, the bill will now be sent to the Senate.
The amendments — eight in total — materialized over the weekend, between the preliminary and final votes on the bill.
The lone victorious amendment, proposed by Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, makes it a misdemeanor for someone over 21 to possess any amount of marijuana in a school building, on school property within 100 feet of a school building, or on a school bus that’s transporting minors.
Donahue called on the body to “draw the line” at school grounds and recognize that these areas are “something distinct and special to protect.”
Rep. Duncan Kilmarten, R-Newport, suggested that whether someone receives a misdemeanor or a civil penalty for smoking marijuana at a high school sporting event could depend on which side of the bleachers they were sitting on.
The Judiciary Committee initially found the amendment unfavorable but after concerns were raised during the lunchtime caucuses, the committee quickly crafted and unanimously approved its own amendment based on Donahue’s.
The committee’s amendment, after it was approved by the House and grafted onto H.200, stirred up additional dissent in the chamber. Several lawmakers pointed out a number of idiosyncratic scenarios that could result from this provision. Rep. Duncan Kilmarten, R-Newport, suggested that whether someone receives a misdemeanor or a civil penalty for smoking marijuana at a high school sporting event could depend on which side of the bleachers they were sitting on.
But in the end, the majority of representatives embraced the bill despite its hypothetical quirks.
Among the amendments that failed to take hold in the House, was a proposal from Rep. Robert Helm, R-Fair Haven, to lower the drinking age to 18 for Vermonters serving in the military. Helm, a veteran, recalled his own stint in the military — “I couldn’t buy beer but I could go to Vietnam.” People who risk their lives for the nation should be able consume alcohol, Helm said.
Rep. Jean O’Sullivan, D-Burlington, offered an amendment to decriminalize one mature plant and two immature plants. O’Sullivan argued that by keeping cultivation a criminal offense, H.200 could corral people into a felony charge, by driving them to the black market for their marijuana purchases.
Rep. Linda Waite-Simpson, D-Essex Junction, who reported on the bill for the Judiciary Committee, told O’Sullivan that the plant conundrum was “truly was a rabbit hole for us.”
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn had previously testified before the committee that permitting cultivation could itself set people up for a felony charge, since a single plant can easily yield a crop that exceeds the amount decriminalized in the bill.
Donahue proposed two additional amendments: One would have raised the fine for smoking marijuana while driving from $500 to $1,000; the other would have upped the fine for smoking in public.
Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, also proposed a trio of unsuccessful amendments that sought to halt or scale back decriminalization. Rep. Kurt Wright’s, R-Burlington, proposal to create escalating fees for repeat offenses was also rejected.
The Joint Fiscal Office, complying with a request made last Friday by Rep. Carolyn Branagan, R-Georgia, issued a memo on the fiscal impact of H.200 ahead of today’s vote. The JFO found that the bill could reduce costs by up to $400,000. It reported that the bill could send more people to the states’ diversion program, which would raise costs, but it might also increase revenue by making police officers more inclined to issue tickets — a simpler procedure than filing a misdemeanor.
Tuesday’s debate concluded with a speech from one of H.200’s most vocal backers and one of its most adamant opponents. Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, framed the legislation as “an opportunity to let go of the hysteria, to recognize that marijuana use happens.” Rep. Andy Donaghy, R-Poultney, said H.200 represents one step in a “disingenuous journey” towards legalization and will exacerbate drug-related problems.
