{"id":8234,"date":"2018-04-28T00:54:09","date_gmt":"2018-04-28T00:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=17118"},"modified":"2018-04-28T00:54:09","modified_gmt":"2018-04-28T00:54:09","slug":"vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market\/","title":{"rendered":"VT: House Lawmakers Spring Late-Session Push For Commercial Cannabis Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>A surprise twist in the Statehouse Thursday afternoon has the issue of marijuana legalization suddenly on the front burner in Montpelier again.<\/p>\n<p>A tri-partisan coalition of House lawmakers is now pushing for legislation that would create an above-board market for commercial cannabis sales.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott passed a law that will, starting July 1, legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and the cultivation of up to two mature cannabis plants. The law retains criminal penalties for large-scale cultivation and sales of the drug.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday afternoon, however, <em>Winooski Rep. Diana Gonzalez<\/em> began laying the procedural groundwork for a vote on legislation that would create a legal cultivation industry and tax retail marijuana sales.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez said she\u2019s motivated by a lack of resources for opioid addiction treatment in Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we had a tax-and-regulate system for marijuana, then we could have some funds to address, in terms of prevention and treatment, in ways that we know that we need,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n<p>The tax-and-regulate model isn\u2019t a new concept in Montpelier. Last April, the Vermont Senate gave overwhelming approval to a bill that would have created a legal cannabis industry in Vermont, akin to what\u2019s in place in Colorado and Washington state.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I would want something that actually is regulated, so that way people know what they&#8217;re buying, and they&#8217;re safe when they can buy it.&#8221; \u2014 Rep. Janssen Willhoit<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That approach proved far less popular in the Vermont House. But Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman said that after the House voted to legalize small-scale possession and cultivation earlier this year, he began reaching out to Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd quite a few said, &#8216;now that it\u2019s legal, I think tax-and-regulate\u2019s a better model,&#8217;&#8221; Zuckerman said.<\/p>\n<p>Now that cannabis is legal anyway, Zuckerman said he thinks the tax-and-regulate equation in the House has changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo if Progressives, the Republicans that think this is the better way, and the many Democrats that inherently support this come together, I think we have a majority,\u201d Zuckerman said.<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans who will be pushing for the tax-and-regulate bill include St. Johnsbury Rep. Janssen Willhoit, who was initially reluctant to support the legalization bill that passed earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would want something that actually is regulated, so that way people know what they\u2019re buying, and they\u2019re safe when they can buy it,\u201d Willhoit said.<\/p>\n<p>Willhoit said it\u2019s too early to know how many of his GOP colleagues with join Progressives and Democrats in favor of the tax-and-regulate bill. But Willhoit said he\u2019s optimistic.<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Mitzi Johnson is less so.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I think at this point it&#8217;s far too large of a policy change to be jumping into the last week or two of the session.&#8221; \u2014 House Speaker Mitzi Johnson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI think at this point it\u2019s far too large of a policy change to be jumping into the last week or two of the session,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said many of the House lawmakers she\u2019s spoken with say they\u2019re uncomfortable taking up such an expansive public policy decision in the waning days of the session.<\/p>\n<p>And even if the measure somehow makes it across the finish line in the House, the bill still faces long odds in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Scott has said that Vermont needs far more highway safety and public health measures in place before it moves ahead with a tax-and-regulate system. And even if House lawmakers can muster the simple majority needed to pass the bill, finding the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto will be far more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/420-news\/international-cannabis-news\/vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market\/\">VT: House Lawmakers Spring Late-Session Push For Commercial Cannabis Market<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A surprise twist in the Statehouse Thursday afternoon has the issue of marijuana legalization suddenly on the front burner in&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/420-news\/international-cannabis-news\/vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/420-news\/international-cannabis-news\/vt-house-lawmakers-spring-late-session-push-for-commercial-cannabis-market\/\">VT: House Lawmakers Spring Late-Session Push For Commercial Cannabis Market<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1616,9,1,3],"tags":[4184],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}