VT House of Representatives Approves Marijuana Dispensaries

On May 5 the Vermont House of Representatives voted 99-44 to allow four medical marijuana dispensaries to serve the several hundred patients who have registered with the State as medicinal marijuana users. The Vermont Senate passed the same bill with a 25-4 vote in mid-April. Governor Peter Shumlin, who has spoken in favor of legalizing medical marijuana in the past, is expected to approve the bill shortly.

Supporters of the bill in the House held that dispensaries are a logical follow up to an earlier Vermont law that allows Vermonters with debilitating medical condition to cultivate and use marijuana, provided a doctor certifies that it offers unique relief for medical issues. Proponents of the bill argue that requiring patients to grow marijuana plants themselves often creates barriers to access, which the bill removes. The earlier law requires users to grow plants themselves, “which is expensive and difficult and unlike anything else we require anybody else to go through to relieve their pain” says Rep. Eldred French, D-Shrewsbury.

“We did not provide them (patients) with a way to obtain the marijuana that they need to ease their suffering,” French said. “And if we can’t provide them with a way to do that without insulting their dignity and making them involve themselves in what is a criminal activity in the state of Vermont, by going out and trying to buy it elsewhere, if we can’t provide that, I think we’ve failed our duty.”

A copy of the bill, referred to as S. 17, can be viewed here. It would allow it for the state-sanctioned and controlled sale of marijuana, providing for the establishment of four dispensaries to serve a maximum of one thousand patients. The dispensaries would be regulated by the Vermont State Police. Patients would be able to buy no greater than two ounces of marijuana per month. Two ounces is the maximum amount that patients may posses under the previous law.

Lawmakers in the House approved the bill despite a warning from Vermont’s U.S. Attorney, Tristram Coffin, that the U.S. Department of Justice will enforce federal law with regard to the manufacture and distribution of marijuana. Coffin stated that the Department of Justice has decided against focusing “its limited resources on seriously ill individuals who use marijuana as part of a medically recommended treatment regimen in compliance with state law.” But, he noted, “we will enforce the CSA [Controlled Substances Act] against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”

Reacting to Coffin’s warning, the House added a provision to the bill that gave the governor power to “suspend the implementation” of dispensaries “if the governor determines that it is in the interest of justice and public safety.” This provision was attacked by some members of the House who did not want to grant such unilateral authority to the governor.

Although Coffin’s warning did not result in the bill’s defeat, it did affect the votes of some members. Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington stated that, “I cast a reluctant no vote on S. 17 because we have in our possession a clear message from the U.S. Department of Justice, stating their concerns with regard to this legislation. Our understandable desire to help people has caused us to pass a bill that is not ready and sets us on a collision course with the federal government.”