A Senate committee is prepared to approve a bill that would legalize the possession of small amounts of buprenorphine, a prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction.
Lawmakers heard hours of testimony on the measure in a joint hearing Thursday of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare — mostly from advocates, state’s attorneys and lawmakers who spoke in favor of the bill, H.225, which they said could save lives.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine and Public Safety Commissioner Mike Schirling, however, spoke in opposition to the bill, suggesting that it could encourage more Vermonters to sell their medication-assisted treatment, rather than take it as prescribed.
Levine said that if he were in any state other than Vermont, he would support the bill — an assertion he has made repeatedly over the years. But in Vermont, he said, access to treatment is so readily available that such legislation isn’t necessary.
That line of thinking didn’t sway Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden.
“To say that any policy would be good public policy in 49 states but bad in one just goes down this path to a certain kind of nonsense,” Baruth said Friday, as the committee discussed the bill.
Baruth’s colleagues on the committee appeared to agree and expressed support for swift passage of the bill. Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, said she was “stunned” by Levine’s testimony.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who chairs the committee, said he “doesn’t have a great deal of confidence” the bill would make a significant difference in Vermont, citing testimony from three state’s attorneys who said they already don’t prosecute cases involving small amounts of buprenorphine. But Sears said he agreed with advocates who argued that if even one life was saved by the measure, it would be worth it.
The committee was split on whether to pass the bill as is, or to add a few minor changes to assuage any potential fears about the bill’s impact.
Ultimately they decided to remove language indicating the bill would “decriminalize” buprenorphine, a term Sears said “deeply troubled” him, since the bill would actually legalize the drug, he argued.
Committee members also agreed to move up the legislation’s effective date, so that it would become law upon passage, and to add a sunset provision, so that it could be re-evaluated in two years’ time.
Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, said in a statement Thursday that she has been meeting with the chairs of judiciary and health and welfare to try to find a path forward for the bill, given the late date that it came over from the House.
“We know we are in the midst of a horrible surge in opioid-related deaths and we want to take all measures to help address this emergency,” Balint said. “The Chairs want to be certain that this bill will have that impact.”
The judiciary committee couldn’t vote out the bill on Friday because it is currently in the Senate Committee on Rules, but judiciary members expressed unanimous support for the bill and said they expected to formally approve it once it reaches the panel. (The bill also requires approval from the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare before moving to the Senate floor.)
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, said her biggest concern is how Vermont can make buprenorphine more easily accessible for those who need it. She said legalizing the drug may not go far enough to that end.
“I would very much like to do something, and if this is the only thing we can do at this stage of the session, I would support it,” said Lyons, who chairs the health and welfare committee.
Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, agreed. Despite the tough timeline, she thinks there’s enough support for the bill that it still has a chance.
“There’s still a couple weeks left,” Hardy said. “I’m going to keep working the next few days. … I’m optimistic, but I’m just one senator.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the current status of the bill.