Shumlin on marijuana: 'Been there, done that'

MONTPELIER – Gov. Peter Shumlin says his days of smoking marijuana are over, even if the Vermont Legislature votes to legalize the drug.

Shumlin stopped using marijuana as he grew into adulthood, he recounted during a news conference at the Statehouse.

"Been there, done that," Shumlin said. "My guess is that a lot of Vermonters of my generation feel like I do about marijuana, which is, it is something we smoked when we were young. ... As I took on more responsibility or I don't know what in my late 20s, I just found that it wasn't much fun anymore.

"Boy, my staff's going to kill me for that," he added.

The governor's aides were sitting nearby in his ceremonial office as Shumlin spoke during a news conference Tuesday afternoon in Montpelier.

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Shumlin said he believes Vermont should legalize marijuana but has approached the topic carefully, waiting to take lessons from Colorado and Washington, which have authorized a retail marijuana market.

If Vermont lawmakers pursue legal marijuana, the regulatory system might not look like the set-up in Colorado or Washington. A lengthy report on the options was released Jan. 16.

The report, written by the Rand Corporation based in California, found that Vermont could reap millions of dollars of tax revenue by allowing a legal marijuana industry, but the highest tax revenues depend on becoming the first state in the Northeast to do so.

Shumlin said Tuesday he does not care whether Vermont legalizes marijuana before or after neighboring states. The decision should not be based on the allure of tax revenue, he said.

Vermonters who oppose marijuana legalization have raised numerous public-safety and public-health concerns, including fears of impaired driving and negative effects on children and teens.

After considering the Rand report, Shumlin said Vermont should avoid problems with marijuana edibles and mentioned he'd like to see "hybrid" distribution systems in Vermont.

The report discusses a range of distribution systems, including a marijuana supply chain operated by the government, a supply chain based on for-profit retail companies, and a supply chain operated by nonprofit organizations.

Shumlin said repeatedly he wants to watch Colorado and Washington. He said Vermont's experience with medical marijuana dispensaries — waiting until other states had made mistakes — was a good model for the potential legalization of recreational marijuana.

"I would argue that our dispensaries have been doing a great job, that they have not become a market for folks outside of medical need to get access to marijuana, and that we got that one right," Shumlin said. "So there's a great example of why it's smart to wait."

Shumlin declined to lay out a time line of when he expects Vermont could legalize marijuana.

"Will you be governor at the time?" countered reporter Stewart Ledbetter of WPTZ.

"You bet," Shumlin said, smiling.

Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank.