At the Statehouse during his weekly news conference, Scott said he’s still undecided whether to have a public signing for H.511, a bill that cleared the Senate on
Wednesday and the House last week.
“We’ll see,” the governor said of holding a public bill signing, highlighting that the legislation was not his “initiative.”
Scott said once his office receives the bill from the Legislature, his office would review it to make sure it’s “technically” correct. “Then I’ll sign the bill,” he added.
A public bill signing is more symbolic than substantive. For example, when former Gov. Howard Dean signed civil unions legislation into law in 2000 he did so privately, leading to criticism from the bill’s backers.
The pot bill allows the possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana and two mature and four immature marijuana plants by people 21 or older.
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.
H.511 represents a compromise reached by the heads of the Senate and House Judiciary panels and Scott’s administration. Added provisions include creating enhanced criminal penalties for using pot in a vehicle with children and increasing penalties for providing marijuana to anyone underage.
“This is a libertarian approach. I’ve said I’m not philosophically opposed to it,” the governor said Thursday. “I know there’s diverse opinion right here in this room as to whether we should move forward, but I still firmly believe that what you do in your own home should be your own business as long as it doesn’t affect someone else.”
Once the bill gains the governor’s signature, Vermont will become the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through legislation, rather than by voter initiative. The legislation would go into effect July 1. Vermont will join eight states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Nevada, Washington — and the District of Columbia where possession of small amounts of marijuana are legal for recreational use.
The vote in Vermont came a week after the Trump administration announced it would scrap the policy during the Obama administration that provided legal shelter for state-sanctioned marijuana sales.
Legislators and law enforcement officials opposed to the legalization effort have advocated that the process slow down. They called for a delay to allow time for a commission formed by the governor that is looking into marijuana legalization to issue its first progress report, due in mid-January.
Scott said during his news conference Thursday that he’s been briefed on the report and doesn’t see anything in it that would change his mind on whether to sign the bill.
The governor’s comments closely followed remarks he made late last year in an interview on Vermont Public Radio. That includes his concern that before a measure to set up a regulatory and tax system for retail sales of marijuana, issues such as driver impairment and edibles need to be addressed.
“That’s a big step from here,” Scott said of a tax and regulated market structure, “but this approach is something I’m comfortable with.”
Also Thursday, the governor’s Opioid Coordination Council formally released its report and recommendations to combat the opioid crisis in Vermont.
VTDigger reported on a draft of the report from the 22-member council late last month, which differed little from the one released Thursday.
The report recommends a range of initiatives, from boosting school and community-based substance abuse prevention efforts to working to increase the number people in recovery who have housing, jobs, and needed social supports.
Other initiatives include developing a drug prevention “messaging campaign,” providing greater access to medication-assisted treatment in Vermont’s prisons, and training all law enforcement and emergency medical services personnel likely to be near a person who may overdose on how to use Naloxone, an overdose reversing drug.
The report also calls for supporting efforts to step up drug trafficking investigations.
However, the recommendations don’t come with a price tag or cost estimates.
“There are a number of initiatives that they laid out, some cost more than others. We’re going to prioritize those and look to see where we can make the most change right now,” the governor said. “In time, we may have to spend more money on some of the initiatives.”
Scott said he expected to reveal more details about financial resources for some of those initiatives during his budget address later this month.
