Vermont Moving Toward Legalizing Marijuana With House Of Representatives Vote

The Vermont House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill toward legalizing recreational possession of marijuana. According to a report by Burlington Free Press, the bill would allow adults — 21 years of age and older — to grow their own plants at their residence.

The Senate had already passed a version of the bill during summer in 2017 but they will have to approve the Vermont House’s decision to remove a study commission. After the final review, the bill will be sent to the Vermont governor’s desk for approval.

The House members initially rejected the Republican Party’s attempts to delay the vote till the governor of Marijuana Advisory Commission publish a report on Jan. 15 regarding prevention of drug use among youths, detecting devices and other matters.

U.S. attorney for Vermont, Christina Nolan, reportedly said, “We're going to use the principles we’ve long used in all drug cases to prioritize our finite resources.”

However, Nolan did not give her opinion on Vermont’s decision to legalize marijuana.

According to a report by The Hill, this decision came just hours after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to reverse a Department of Justice Policy on making marijuana legal. The policy was made during former president Barack Obama’s administration, which called on U.S. attorneys to deprioritize marijuana-related cases in the states which legalized the drug.

Sessions was heavily criticized for the reversal, the report said.

Speaking about the decision taken by Sessions, Colorado Senator Cory Gardner told the Hill, “I would like to know from the attorney general what has changed.” “What has changed the president's mind? Why is Donald Trump thinking differently than what he promised the people of Colorado?” added Gardner.

Tim Ashe, Vermont Senator from Chittenden said Sessions would start "a new level of uncertainty for dozens of states,” the Burlington Free Press reported.

“Apparently, he's [Sessions] more troubled by an 80-year-old using medical marijuana to treat a terminal health condition than he is by coordinating election strategy with Russians," added Ashe.

The biggest marijuana policy reform group in U.S., The Marijuana Policy Project, issued a statement lauding the decision made by the Vermont House and described it as an “important step.”

Matt Simon, the project’s policy director said, “Vermont is poised to make history by becoming the first state to legalize marijuana cultivation and possession legislatively, rather than by ballot initiative.”

“We applaud lawmakers for heeding the calls of their constituents and taking this important step toward treating marijuana more like alcohol,” Simon added.

Vermont House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski reportedly said, “This is a thoughtful, incremental approach to marijuana legalization.”

She added, “We're proud to be the first state in the nation to pass marijuana legalization without the pressure of a public referendum."

With this bill, Vermont will become the ninth state to make the use of recreational marijuana for adults, legal. It will also be the first state to legalize marijuana through its state legislature. The bill passed on a vote of 81-63.