The House Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a medical marijuana dispensaries bill, endorsing an amendment that will study potential tax revenue from legalizing and taxing pot.
Another amendment, which would have added post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions that qualify a person to obtain medical marijuana, was withdrawn on the floor.
Both the Senate and the House committees decided not to include PTSD. Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn, whose agency runs the medical marijuana program, lobbied against it.
After some back-and-forth, the House included an amendment to study potential revenue that could be gained by taxing and regulating marijuana in Vermont. Some worried that even a study is a step toward legalization.
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, a member of the Human Services Committee, said the amendment does “fatal damage to the underlying bill” because it mixes the question of legalization with that of providing symptom relief.
Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, said the amendment simply calls for research.
“We’re not down the road. There’s nothing to fear here. We should actually embrace the idea that the Vermont Legislature would look at questions with as much information as possible on the table,” Pearson said.
Others said legalization is the goal.
“It is step one because Vermonters want marijuana to be legal,” said Rep. Kristina Michelsen, D-Hardwick, whose original proposal for a marijuana study died last month when Speaker Shap Smith ruled it not germane to the bill to which it was attached.
“We should be informed when we’re having that debate,” Michelsen said.
The House version of the medical marijuana dispensary bill left in tact some changes from the Senate but also made new edits.
The Senate version increases from four to six the number of dispensaries in the state but the House left the number at four.
“Because this program is still in its infancy and experiencing growing pains, Human Services [Committee] disagrees and felt it was too early to have two more dispensaries at this time,” said Rep. Tom Burditt, R-West Rutland.
It also increases from two to four the number of ounces of marijuana a dispensary may have on hand per patient and removes a 1,000 patient cap for the number of registered patients statewide who use dispensaries.
The House added an amendment that removes a requirement that a patient have had a six-month relationship with a physician for people who are diagnosed with a terminal illness, cancer with distant metastases or AIDS.
They also added a section authorizing dispensaries to acquire, cultivate and sell hemp for symptom relief. The committee learned through testimony that a certain strain of hemp is effective in treating some children who suffer from frequent seizures.
Burditt made it clear the committee believes marijuana is only for symptom relief.
The committee did include language calling for a Department of Health study of existing research on treating PTSD symptoms using marijuana.
Rep. James Masland, D-Thetford, sponsored, and subsequently withdrew, a floor amendment to add PTSD back into the bill. Veterans as well as civilians who experienced traumatic events resort to illegal means to obtain marijuana to ease their symptoms, he said.
“They’re pleading with me to find a legal means so that they don’t have to go outside the law,” he said.
The bill removes a prohibition against granting access to medical marijuana to people convicted of drug-related crimes but asks the Department of Public Safety to consider an individual’s criminal history when deciding whether to approve an application.
The bill authorizes a dispensary to deliver marijuana to a registered patient or caregiver in a locked container. It also changes the financial audit requirement for dispensaries from annually to every other year.
