A push to decriminalize possession of the widely used opioid treatment drug, buprenorphine, stalled in the Statehouse this session, and will be on hold until lawmakers return to Montpelier next January.
Decriminalization advocates and a group of House lawmakers this year pitched legislation to legalize possession of small amounts of the prescription medication, which is used to help control opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Proponents of the bill, H.162, argued that making the medication more available to users will save lives, and deter those with opioid addictions from using deadlier substances like heroin or fentanyl.
Gov. Phil Scott and U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan were among those opposed to the decriminalization effort.
Vermont’s Health Commissioner Mark Levine told lawmakers in March that buprenorphine decriminalization would be a “slam dunk” in any other state. However, he said that in Vermont, where addiction treatment centers have no wait times, there is no reason for anyone to possess the drug without a prescription.
The proposal saw some momentum after it was passed by the House Judiciary Committee in March. But the House Human Services Committee sat on the bill — chair Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington, said it wasn’t a top priority — and it will remain there until next year.
Pugh said last week that lawmakers in her committee need more time to work on the policy, and will be taking up the bill again in January.
In particular, she said her committee needs more time to consider the amount of the drug that should be decriminalized, and how to measure the impact decriminalization will have on drug treatment and reduction in overdose deaths.
“I’m not interested in putting forth any piece of legislation that is shoddily done and any piece of legislation that could backfire,” Pugh said.
“The opiate problem continues to be an issue in Vermont that we want to address. It’s important that we throw everything in the toolbox at it,” she said.
“And this is a relatively — on some level — new form of harm reduction, and one that I think has merit and clearly in some communities it’s being used and it has merit.”
Advocates for buprenorphine decriminalization have frequently pointed to Chittenden County, where last year prosecutors became the first in the nation to announce they would no longer seek charges for possession of the drug.
While Vermont saw an increase in overdose deaths last year, in Chittenden County the number of overdose deaths dropped by 50%. Some have attributed the drop in deaths, in part, to the policy shift.
Many pushing for decriminalization were disappointed that the bill didn’t make it further this year.
“I understand it’s controversial policy, and it’s complicated for people, but we’ve had four years in a row of a worsening overdose fatality rate for the state,” said Rep. Selene Colburn, P-Burlington, the lead sponsor of the bill.
“When we don’t move on harm reduction policy that we have reason to think might keep people alive, that’s a mistake in my opinion,” she added.
Brenda Siegel, a former Democratic candidate for governor, who now pushes for policies in the Legislature to combat the opioid crisis, said lawmakers aren’t moving forward with the buprenorphine bill fast enough.
“I don’t think it’s an intentional disregard for what needs to be done to heal this epidemic,” Siegel said. “What I think though is that there’s a really strong lack of understanding about how urgent it is to create policies that will actually save lives.”
