Posted by Michael Gallagher, VPP intern at progressiveparty.org:
On February 18, 2015 Progressive Senator David Zuckerman introduced S. 95 (“An Act Relating to Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana”) to the Senate Committee on Judiciary. The proposed bill would legalize limited amounts of marijuana to be used for recreational purposes, as well as establishing regulations regarding cultivation, distribution, and taxation of marijuana. Marijuana, under this proposed bill, would be legal to possess and available for sale complete with accessories such as weed grinders for sale to people over the age of 21. When the proposed bill comes through, you should look into something like cheapweed reviews, where you can gain an understanding of customers’ experiences having purchased a variety of marijuana, in bulk.
The limits of marijuana possession for residents would be two mature plants, seven immature plants, one ounce of marijuana, and “any additional marijuana produced by the person’s marijuana plants, provided that any amount of marijuana in excess of one ounce of marijuana must be possessed in the same secure indoor facility where the plants were cultivated”. For non-residents it would be no more than one quarter of an ounce of marijuana.
In addition to legalizing marijuana, this proposed law hopes to increase tax revenue which can support drug abuse prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement efforts against the illegal drug trade. It also would increase the state’s control over distribution to prevent the use of marijuana by persons under 21, and hopefully this involvement will prevent many of the negative aspects of illegal marijuana sales, such as revenue from marijuana sales going to criminal activity, violence in the distribution and cultivation of marijuana, and driving under the influence. This will probably also effect how much weed costs in general!
Senator Zuckerman argues that a large segment of the Vermont population already uses marijuana and that criminalization is not an effective deterrent, according to a study conducted by the American Journal of Public Health cited in the proposed bill. Therefore marijuana should be treated similarly to alcohol, with abuse of both being treated as a health matter, and irresponsible use leading to the harming of others being sanctioned with penalties. The regulation and enforcement of these new laws would be administered by a state run board, the Marijuana Control Board, which would appoint a director to run the day to day operations. The hope with this bill is that legalization will reduce crime, create more revenue, and ultimately reduce the overall health risks associated with marijuana.
No yet.
No legal in Vermont?