(This story was updated and expanded Jan. 10 at 8:10 p.m.)
[A] bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana has cleared its last hurdle in the Vermont Legislature.
The measure, H.511, now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Phil Scott. He has previously said he would sign the legislation.
With Scott’s signature, Vermont would become the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through legislation, rather than by voter initiative.
The Senate passed the measure Wednesday afternoon by a voice vote. Last week, after several hours of debate, the House passed the legislation 81-63.
Rebecca Kelley, the governor’s spokesperson, Wednesday reiterated Scott’s plans for the bill.
“So, while it is not a priority for him – he expects to sign it,” Kelley said in an email.
She added that she can’t predict the timeframe because there are still some procedural steps.
The bill allows the possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana and two mature and four immature marijuana plants by people 21 or older.
It does not establish a taxed and regulated system for the purchase and sale of marijuana. Many backers of such a measure say they hope it is the next step after this action and a report from a gubernatorial commission looking into that matter. That report is due Dec. 15, months after the end of the legislative session.
“Prohibition has failed miserably; it’s financially benefited drug dealers and cartels, and failed to promote public safety,” Senate President Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, said in a statement immediately after Wednesday’s vote.
He added, “It is my hope that this is a step toward a comprehensive, regulated seed-to-sale system through which Vermont can ensure product safety and generate additional resources to make enhanced public health investments.”
Ashe, speaking on the Senate floor, addressed concerns raised during House debate last week that supporters of legalization were engaged in a “rush” or “stampede” to pass the measure only days after the start of the 2018 legislative session.
The senators who said they voted against the legislation included three Rutland County Republicans: Brian Collamore, Peg Flory and David Soucy.
They said they wished more time had been taken with the measure, adding that it didn’t adequately address marijuana-impaired driving.
Though there was no roll call on the Senate floor, Collamore estimated that the vote was 21-9, the same as when the chamber approved essentially the same legislation in June. “That’s my guess,” he added.
“My stance,” Collamore said, “has been consistent all along. Until we have a court-proven way to test people roadside, I just can’t support it, and we don’t have it.”
Laura Subin, director of the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana, called the Legislature’s action in approving H.511 “long overdue” and said the next step is to move forward with a taxed and regulated system for marijuana.
Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Sears, D-Bennington, spoke at a morning session of the panel. He said he wondered if passage of H.511 would speed up or slow down the move to such a system.
“What this does is simply opens it up without any regulation at all,” responded Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham. “I think passing this will increase the pressure to have some type of regulation.”
“But the House has been just so balky,” Sears replied.
On the Senate floor, members approved the measure with little debate. Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex-Orleans, did provide his colleagues with a document and spoke about the history of cannabis laws in the country.
Once the bill cleared the House last week, Senate passage was virtually assured.
However, during the Wednesday morning session of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a vote set for the afternoon seemed like it could be delayed at least a day. That’s because some committee members wanted to clarify the amount of marijuana that people could have within a single “dwelling unit.”
“I know I should not get my news from Facebook,” Sears said. “But last night I went on and saw some statements I knew were incorrect about the household and how many plants they were allowed to grow.”
The committee chairman added, “I want to make sure we have the dwelling issue right. … That’s the one area I think there is a little area of confusion.”
According to information provided by the Office of Legislative Council later Wednesday morning, regardless of how many people 21 or older reside in a “dwelling unit,” each unit is limited to two mature marijuana plants and four immature plants.
The Judiciary Committee also heard Wednesday morning from Colchester Police Chief Jennifer Morrison, president of the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police.
Her organization, as well as other law enforcement groups, issued statements after the House vote last week expressing opposition to the measure.
Morrison said she was disappointed that the governor “expressed a willingness” to sign the bill prior to release of a progress report due in mid-January from the Governor’s Marijuana Advisory Commission and its final report due Dec. 15.
Sears responded that since the legislation wouldn’t go into effect until July 1, there’s nothing that would prevent the House and Senate from acting on any recommendations from the commission, particularly related to highway safety.
“I think that those issues can still be taken up this session,” he added.
After a brief committee discussion, the panel late Wednesday morning voted 4-1 to send the bill to the full Senate.
Committee members voting to advance it were Sears, Ashe, White and Joe Benning, R-Caledonia. Sen. Alice Nitka, D-Windsor, cast the lone committee vote in opposition.
Sears paused briefly before voicing his support for the bill. “This is a huge concession on the part of the Senate,” he said, explaining his delay in ultimately voting in favor of the measure.
During the last legislative session Scott vetoed a measure that also would have legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and permitted the cultivation of a few plants. The governor suggested ways the legislation could be changed to gain his support.
H.511 represents a compromise reached by the heads of the Senate and House Judiciary panels and Scott’s administration just prior to a one-day veto session in June.
To address some of the concerns the governor raised, the bill creates criminal penalties for using pot in a vehicle with children and increases penalties for providing marijuana to anyone underage.
However, despite having reached a compromise, a move to take up the legislation in an expedited one-day veto session failed to gain needed support.
