Vt. Senate advances marijuana bill

Posted Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:29 am

Thursday, February 14

MONTPELIER -- The Vermont Senate on Wednesday voted to scrap jail terms for first- or second-time offenders caught with up to an ounce of marijuana, giving initial approval to a bill that would give those people fines or send them to court diversion.

Debate on whether to give the bill initial approval -- which the Senate ended up doing on a 22-7 roll call vote -- prompted a wide-ranging discussion of marijuana policy, about the message the legislation would send to young people, and about whether laws against marijuana were causing more harm than the drug itself.

Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, introduced his comments on the topic with a bit of humor.

"I'm not so naive as to think that marijuana is a completely harmless drug," he said. "It's responsible for some of the worst poetry every written. And as a musician, I can tell you it wreaks havoc on the drummer's ability to keep the tempo."

But he added, "The harm that is done to actual people's lives because they're pot smokers is not done by pot-smoking. The harm that comes to people's lives because they're pot smokers comes from the state. The problems in their lives do not come from lighting up a joint. It comes from getting caught."

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Critics of the bill said it would send the wrong message at a time when the state is grappling with a growing problem with use and abuse of harder drugs.

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Sen. Hull Maynard, R-Rutland, noted that his home county, and Rutland City in particular, had been plagued by a recent spate of drug-related violence and other crime.

"I feel that we would be better off not passing anything on this subject right now," Maynard said. He urged that the state "try to get down to the business and clear up a problem that may be worse in Rutland County than other places and may not."

Current Vermont law calls for those caught with up to two ounces of marijuana to be given up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.

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The bill before the Senate Wednesday would give those caught with up to one ounce a choice: They could either pay a $500 fine -- $750 on a second offense -- and have a criminal record, or they could go to a court diversion program, which would result in no criminal record but likely would require counseling and community service.

An initial version of the bill would have decriminalized possession or sale of up to four ounces, but the Senate Judiciary Committee scaled that back, said its chairman, Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington.

"No one is condoning the use of marijuana, and it's offensive to suggest that anyone is," Sears said.

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